US Backs Brazil Rare Earths to Bypass China

The United States is pouring money into Brazil's rare earth deposits to break China's grip on the minerals that run American electronics, magnets and weapons systems.

An analysis of Brazilian mining permits by The Associated Press and Reporter Brasil, published Thursday, found that foreign-backed companies are behind 42% of the 2,727 rare earth exploration applications filed with Brazil's National Mining Agency — nearly half — with the money coming mostly from Australia, the U.S. and Canada.

The rush follows China's decision last year to restrict rare earth exports in retaliation for U.S. tariffs, a squeeze that many experts believe pushed President Donald Trump back to the negotiating table with Beijing.

It also comes with a cost: at least a quarter of those applications overlap with, or sit within six miles of, 283 protected areas and Indigenous territories, some of them in the Amazon.

Why Brazil

Brazil holds the world's second-largest rare earth reserves — an estimated 21 million metric tons, according to its Geological Service, against China's estimated 44 million metric tons, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Rare earths are essential to digital and defense technology, used in electronics, magnets and batteries, as well as wind turbines and electric vehicle motors. The International Energy Agency estimated in 2022 that demand could rise at least threefold by 2040.

Interest has spiked hard. More than 86% of all rare earth exploration applications in Brazil were filed in the past three years, including 268 in the first half of 2026 alone, according to the agency's public data.

Australian companies lead with 695 applications. Nearly a third of those came from Borborema Recursos Minerais, a subsidiary of Sydney-based Brazilian Rare Earths Pty Ltd.

U.S. companies rank second with 347. Alpha Minerals Brazil, controlled by Texas-based Rare Earth Americas Inc., accounts for 181 of them. The company was originally incorporated in the Cayman Islands and moved to the U.S. in 2025, saying it is "on a mission to become the premier new source of rare earth supply for America."

Other major filers include Mineracao Apollo, partly controlled by Nevada-based Atlas Lithium, and the Canadian firm Aclara Resources, which recently opened a pilot processing plant in Louisiana to turn rare earth material into metals and alloys.