Legal Insurrection by Leslie Eastman 12/10/2025
Brazil mine is being developed with U.S. partnership, and US firm now merges mining with REE processing capabilitiesEver since taking office in January, President Donald Trump and his team have been moving rapidly to secure the nation’s supply of rare earth elements.
As a reminder, rare earth elements (REEs) are indispensable materials in defense systems, communications technologies, and high‑tech manufacturing. The current supply chain is concentrated in China, creating economic and national security vulnerabilities. REEs comprise 17 different substances, lanthanides (cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium, and the eponymous lanthanum) as well as the two elements scandium and yttrium.
Legal Insurrection readers may recall that earlier this year, Trump’s team began exploring partnership opportunities with other countries to both mine and process REEs, gutting China’s essential monopoly. This move followed months of threats of export controls by China.
One of those countries was Brazil. In early November, Brazilian rare earths producer Serra Verde secured up to $465 million in funding from the US International Development Finance Corporation to develop a specific mine.
The Pela Ema deposit contains light and heavy rare earths – mainly neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium – that are key to production of magnets used in a wide range of applications. Serra Verde, backed by Denham Capital, Vision Blue Resources and Energy and Minerals Group, is Brazil’s first large-scale rare earths producer.
The DFC said the funding is to finance improvements of the Pela Ema mine as well as operational expenses and refinancing existing shareholder debt. The financing was earlier reported by the Financial Times.
Serra Verde began commercial production at its mine and processing plant in 2024. The firm aims to ramp up output to between 4,800 and 6,500 metric tons of total rare earth oxides by early 2027.
More:
https://legalinsurrection.com/2025/12/u-s-strategically-securing-rare-earth-element-supply-chain-away-from-china/
