{"id":97650,"date":"2026-02-20T12:10:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T15:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/murray.adv.br\/?p=97650"},"modified":"2026-02-20T12:10:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T15:10:38","slug":"goias-advances-critical-minerals-deal-with-u-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/murray.adv.br\/en\/goias-advances-critical-minerals-deal-with-u-s\/","title":{"rendered":"Goi\u00e1s advances critical minerals deal with U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"
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State expects to sign agreement by March after governor\u2019s trip to Washington<\/strong><\/em><\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The state government of Goi\u00e1s expects to sign a critical minerals agreement with the United States by March, after advancing discussions this month during Governor Ronaldo Caiado\u2019s visit to Washington. The deal would precede any potential negotiations between Brazil\u2019s federal government and the U.S. administration on the issue, which have yet to take place.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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According to Adriano da Rocha Lima, Goi\u00e1s\u2019 chief of staff, who accompanied Caiado to the U.S., the state also plans to sign a similar agreement with Japan. \u201cBoth agreements should be signed by the first week of March at the latest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The governor\u2019s agenda included a meeting with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the American counterpart to the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), which approved $565 million (R$2.9 billion) in financing for Minera\u00e7\u00e3o Serra Verde. The company operates Brazil\u2019s only commercially active rare earth mine, located in Goi\u00e1s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The most significant meeting, Rocha Lima said, was with Christopher Landau, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State and a close aide to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. \u201cIn that meeting, we broadly discussed the partnership between Goi\u00e1s and the U.S., and they expressed full support for cooperation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On the U.S. side, the agreement is expected to involve the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs at the State Department. On the Brazilian side, it would include the Goi\u00e1s State Authority for Critical Minerals (Amic-GO). The deal would serve as a framework for more specific future agreements and would provide for technological and commercial cooperation, as well as financial contributions, though no initial amount has been specified.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAccording to them, without this agreement they face difficulties in making financial contributions, allocating resources, and forming partnerships with companies and research centers,\u201d Rocha Lima said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Goi\u00e1s has moved ahead at the state level by approving legislation in 2025 establishing Amic-GO, which will coordinate state policy on critical minerals. At the federal level, Brazil does not yet have comparable legislation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Based on conversations in Washington, the Goi\u00e1s government said it sensed a lack of urgency on the part of Brazil\u2019s federal administration. \u201cI recall a comment along the lines of, \u2018We are trying to negotiate with the Brazilian government, but we haven\u2019t received a response,\u2019\u201d Rocha Lima said, adding that this may have prompted the U.S. to accelerate talks directly with the state.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Brazil\u2019s Mines and Energy Ministry said in a statement that it \u201cremains open to dialogue and cooperation with international initiatives that contribute to a more resilient, transparent, and sustainable global critical minerals supply chain.\u201d The ministry added that Brazil\u2019s approach is guided, among other principles, by integration into global value chains \u201cin dialogue with different partners, including the U.S., the European Union, China, and other strategic actors.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A source familiar with the sector expressed concern about a lack of alignment between state and federal authorities, warning that the federal government could eventually seek to annul or invalidate the state-level agreement with the U.S. on constitutional grounds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Brazilian Mining Institute (Ibram) views the potential agreement positively. According to Julio Nery, the institute\u2019s mining affairs director, the initiative should not hinder possible negotiations between Brazil and the U.S. at the federal level. \u201cThe Brazilian government can also sign a similar agreement,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is very positive to see different levels of government engaged in this process.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Rocha Lima said Goi\u00e1s made clear its intention to move up the value chain in critical minerals. \u201cWe do not want to simply extract the mineral and ship it abroad in raw form. They understood and agreed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Under the planned agreement with Japan\u2014expected to involve Amic-GO and the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (Jogmec)\u2014the parties would carry out detailed geological mapping of Goi\u00e1s\u2019 subsoil. \u201cThis mapping should cost around R$300 million, and Japan is willing to finance it,\u201d Rocha Lima said.<\/p>\n

*By\u00a0Michael Esquer\u00a0\u2014 S\u00e3o Paulo<\/p>\n

Source: Valor International<\/p>\n

https:\/\/valorinternational.globo.com\/<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

State expects to sign agreement by March after governor\u2019s trip to Washington       02\/20\/2026\u00a0 The state government of Goi\u00e1s expects to sign a critical minerals agreement with the United States by March, after advancing discussions this month during Governor Ronaldo Caiado\u2019s visit to Washington. The deal would precede any potential negotiations between Brazil\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8106],"tags":[26772],"class_list":["post-97650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-murray-news","tag-goias-advances-critical-minerals-deal-with-u-s"],"yoast_head":"\nGoi\u00e1s advances critical minerals deal with U.S. - Murray Advogados<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/murray.adv.br\/en\/goias-advances-critical-minerals-deal-with-u-s\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Goi\u00e1s advances critical minerals deal with U.S. - Murray Advogados\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"State expects to sign agreement by March after governor\u2019s trip to Washington       02\/20\/2026\u00a0 The state government of Goi\u00e1s expects to sign a critical minerals agreement with the United States by March, after advancing discussions this month during Governor Ronaldo Caiado\u2019s visit to Washington. 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