As the governments of Donald Trump and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva seek to mend their noisy differences, the development of strategic metals — particularly rare earths — stands out as an unusual area of shared interest. China’s move to weaponise its dominance of the rare earths supply chain in response to Washington’s tariffs — widening the curbs on its exports of components vital for everything from semiconductors to defence systems — has opened the door to potential producers, including Brazil, Australia and India.
In 1967, a helicopter from United States Steel Corp. carrying a team of geologists made an accidental discovery after landing in a remote corner of the Amazon rainforest: a giant iron-ore deposit that would become Carajás, one of the world’s richest mineral regions.
The setting today may feel less like an Indiana Jones script, but a similar mining partnership between the US and Brazil could once again take shape — this time around the critical minerals that are roiling modern geopolitics.
