image: Fernando Landgraf during his presentation at FAPESP Week London
Credit: Elton Alisson/Agência FAPESP
Despite having the world’s second-largest reserve of rare earth elements, second only to China, Brazil still needs to overcome technological and environmental obstacles to establish a local production chain. This group of 17 metallic chemical elements is essential for manufacturing high-tech products such as electric vehicles, wind turbines, and smartphones. To make this sector viable, the country must first build separation and refining facilities. In a second phase, it must master the manufacture of high-power permanent magnets, which are known for retaining their magnetic properties for decades.
The assessment was made by Fernando Landgraf (pictured, behind the pulpit), a professor at the Engineering School of the University of São Paulo (POLI-USP) and one of the country’s leading experts on the subject. He made this assessment during a lecture at FAPESP Week London, held at the Science Museum in London. Organized by FAPESP and partners in the United Kingdom, the event will take place from June 2 to 4 and aims to consolidate and expand scientific collaborations in strategic areas of mutual interest between researchers from São Paulo and the UK.
“Rare earth reserves represent only the country’s potential in the sector. What matters is the capacity to produce carbonate,” said Landgraf, referring to the powdered compound that precedes the separation of the 17 chemical elements and serves as the raw material for super-powerful magnets. These magnets are currently the subject of a dispute between the United States and China.
According to the researcher, approximately two tons of carbonate are needed for every ton of magnet produced – that is, twice as much. Thus, if the global demand for rare-earth magnets were to reach 150,000 tons per year, mining companies in different countries would need to produce approximately 300,000 tons of carbonate annually.
Brazil currently has the capacity to meet less than 6% of this demand based on the combined carbonate production estimates of major Brazilian mining companies (20,000 tons per year), but Landgraf noted that it could expand its share with the recent rare earth mining projects announced in the country. To do so, they will need to process approximately 20 million tons of ore.
“There are about ten rare earth mining projects underway in the country at different stages of development. Two of them, by the mining companies Serra Verde [in Minaçu, in the state of Goiás], and ADL in Buena [São Francisco de Itabapoana, in the state of Rio de Janeiro], are already in production,” Landgraf noted.
Environmental risks
In the researcher’s assessment, the primary challenge in developing new rare earth mining projects in Brazil is environmental. There needs to be greater clarity regarding which parameters must be measured and controlled during operations to minimize chemical impacts in the areas surrounding the mining sites, Landgraf noted. “There’s still no consolidated answer to that. It’s an open question from a technological standpoint, and greater transparency from the mining companies in this regard would be welcome,” he told Agência FAPESP.
The second and biggest bottleneck to be overcome is the separation of the rare earth elements themselves. The ionic clay containing rare earth elements identified in Brazil over the past ten years has varying compositions of the 17 chemical elements, which have widely differing properties and market values. Separating and concentrating neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium – the most valuable elements in the mix – at the lowest possible cost requires mastery of solvent extraction technology, in which specific chemical compounds are used to isolate each element.
Brazil still needs to define the industrial parameters of this process, learn to deal with contaminants from the ore (aluminum oxides, iron, and others), and ideally produce the necessary chemical extractants locally, the researcher noted.
China has accumulated decades of experience in these critical stages of rare earth mining, but does not share details. “China doesn’t publish much on this,” said Landgraf. “Learning from Chinese scientists isn’t exactly easy when it comes to these issues.” Partnerships with American or European groups are possible but involve negotiations that extend beyond science; they are geopolitical issues, according to the researcher.
On the other hand, Landgraf assessed that cooperation with the United Kingdom could be based on magnet manufacturing. England has a history of research in this area, and researchers from Birmingham have made significant contributions to this stage of the process. Several Brazilians have also studied there. Landgraf has now identified British groups working on precisely the stages that are least developed in Brazil: environmental monitoring of mining. “We’re seeking out these contacts.”
Skills development
While Brazil’s path in rare earth mining is still long, it does not start from zero. The National Institute of Science and Technology for the Processing and Application of Rare Earth Magnets (INCT Pátria), created in 2014 by FAPESP in partnership with the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and coordinated by Landgraf, has brought together researchers from different regions of the country with the goal of mastering the production cycle of supermagnets. This collective effort was renewed with the recent launch of the National Institute of Science and Technology in Rare Earth-Based Advanced Materials (INCT Matéria), which unites 15 institutions to develop applications of rare earth elements for the energy transition. Professor Sergio Michielon of the Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM) coordinates this initiative.
Meanwhile, teams at the Mineral Technology Center (CETEM) in Rio de Janeiro, the Nuclear Technology Development Center in Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais state), and the Department of Chemical Engineering at POLI-USP have been researching different aspects of rare earth separation techniques.
Meanwhile, at the Institute for Technological Research (IPT) in São Paulo, researchers have made progress in the stage following separation by obtaining metallic neodymium from rare earth oxide through high-temperature electrolysis and manufacturing the iron-neodymium-boron alloy. The crystals of this alloy form the magnetic core of high-performance magnets.
The final stage, compacting the crystalline powder into a dense, oriented magnet through powder metallurgy, was investigated at the Institute of Energy and Nuclear Research (IPEN) in São Paulo. This stage was primarily developed at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), in collaboration with USP. The state of Santa Catarina is also home to one of the most innovative initiatives led by Professor Paulo Wendhausen: producing magnets through additive manufacturing, or 3D printing. “It’s a major challenge,” Landgraf admitted, “and the team there is working on it.”
Now, a concrete milestone is being built in Minas Gerais. Led by the Innovation and Technology Center of SENAI (the National Industrial Training Service, a nonprofit organization), with support from UFSC, a rare-earth magnet factory-laboratory is being constructed. The facility is already complete. “It will take us about two years to learn how to make these magnets with the quality needed to meet market specifications,” the professor estimated. He noted that it is the kind of learning process for which there are no shortcuts.
More information about FAPESP Week London is available at fapesp.br/week/2026/london.
About São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)
The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is a public institution with the mission of supporting scientific research in all fields of knowledge by awarding scholarships, fellowships and grants to investigators linked with higher education and research institutions in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. FAPESP is aware that the very best research can only be done by working with the best researchers internationally. Therefore, it has established partnerships with funding agencies, higher education, private companies, and research organizations in other countries known for the quality of their research and has been encouraging scientists funded by its grants to further develop their international collaboration. You can learn more about FAPESP at www.fapesp.br/en and visit FAPESP news agency at www.agencia.fapesp.br/en to keep updated with the latest scientific breakthroughs FAPESP helps achieve through its many programs, awards and research centers. You may also subscribe to FAPESP news agency at http://agencia.fapesp.br/subscribe