Brazilian Mining 2016–2026
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Regulatory Environment: bottlenecks, progress and legal certainty

How Brazil's National Mining Agency (ANM) handles mineral rights, from application to mining, using the complete Mining Registry (Cadastro Mineiro) database. Choose a state on the map or in the list: figures and charts will then show that state only.

Data through Oct 24, 2026Complete Mining Registry database, no sampling972,484 case files · 3.18 million events

The mineral rights journey ·

From exploration application to mine, for the selected scope

1 · Application— daysto the exploration permit (median 2024–2026)Down from — days in 2014–2019
2 · Exploration—exploration permits published from 2014 to 2020— were lost without results
3 · Final report—positive reports filed: deposits discovered— awaiting decision
4 · Mining—of approved reports have already filed for mining— already hold a mining concession
Legal certainty
Stable rules: Federal Constitution (art. 176) and Mining Code (Decree-Law 227/1967), with the ANM created by law in 2017.
Priority right: whoever first applies for an open area has preference over it.
— of positive reports already decided were approved.
— of permit extensions decided were granted.

The time from application to permit fell from — days (2014–2019) to — days (2024–2026), and — of positive reports already decided were approved.

Of the — exploration permits published from 2014 to 2020, — were lost without results and only — had a positive report approved.

Map by state

—

Click a state to filter the dashboard; click again to return to Brazil. Hover to see the value.

Indicators for the selected scope

Days from application to permit, 2024–2026—Median; it was — days in 2014–2019
Positive reports approved, of those decided—— approved out of — decided
Extensions granted, of those decided—— granted, permits since 2014
Approved projects that have filed for mining—— already with a mining concession
Auctioned areas with a new holder—Case files opened by winning bidders
Case files in the registry—Edition of Oct 30, 2026
Applications pending for more than 2 years—Applications filed since 2014
Permits published, 2014–2020—Tracked through Oct 2026
Lost without results—Expired, forfeited, relinquished or annulled
Unpaid TAH annual fees—All permits from 2014 to 2026
Positive reports pending decision—Median wait of — days
Negative reports pending decision—Not approved: — · filed/closed: —
Auctioned areas without a new holder—Out of — areas offered
What improved

ANM progress over the period

The same complete Mining Registry data, read from the side of what started working better, for the selected scope.

Days from application to permit

Median by year of permit publication; ordinary exploration applications, excluding auctions and availability.

Rejected applications

Share of each year's exploration applications that ended in rejection.

Positive reports already decided

Decisions on positive final reports for permits published since 2014.

Areas returned to the market through auctions

New case files opened by winning bidders in areas that had been idle under availability, by round.

CFEM collection

Brazil as a whole, R$ billion, nominal (ANM). Not affected by the filter.

Staff rebuilding in 2025

Brazil as a whole. Agency staff (civil servants); the 2025 civil service exam replaced part of the losses since 2010.

Exploration titles

From application to final report, for the selected scope.

Outcome of 2014–2020 permits

Permits by outcome as of October 2026, with share of the total.

Unpaid TAH, by fiscal year

Share of annual fees due with no payment recorded in the cycle.

Exploration applications by year

Outcome as of October 2026; recent years are still in progress.

Area auctions

Areas offered in availability rounds and case files opened by winning bidders, by state of the area. The 7th round was canceled.

What happened to each area offered

Share of the areas in each round, in the state.

Status of the winners' case files

Share of new case files from each round, as of October 2026.

Loss of areas

Acts that terminated mineral rights in the state. The recent drop does not mean fewer losses: the agency stopped recording some of them.

Area loss acts

Annual average in 2014–2019 (gray) and in 2020–2026 (color).

State comparison

Click a row to filter the dashboard; click a column header to sort.
Brazil as a whole · not affected by the filter

The sector grew, the State shrank

Sector revenue

R$ billion, nominal values (IBRAM). No official series for 2016.

CFEM collected

R$ billion, nominal values (ANM).

Agency staff

DNPM in 2010; ANM after 2017.

Wait for a decision on the positive report

Median days from filing to decision, by year of decision.

A negative report locks up the area

Rulings from 2014 to October 2026. Only filing/closure under art. 30, III, frees the area.

Not approved (art. 30, II)
—
Filed/closed (art. 30, III)
—

Active case files with no act since 2014

Flagged as active in the registry, with no movement for more than 12 years. Total: —.

ANM systems downtime

Equivalent days of downtime of the Digital Filing System (Protocolo Digital) and associated systems.

Study prepared with the support of artificial intelligence, under the supervision of a licensed professional, using public data from Brazil's National Mining Agency (ANM), at the request of the FEBRAGEO Presidency.

Mining Registry (Cadastro Mineiro): 972,484 case files (edition of Oct 30, 2026), 3,183,209 events from Jan 1, 2014 to Oct 24, 2026, and SCM microdata of Jun 4, 2026. No statistic uses sampling. Case files covering more than one state are counted in the first state listed in the registry. Acre had no case files in this edition of the registry. Progress: time to permit measured from filing date to permit publication, for ordinary exploration applications (median per period); extensions and reports count only those already decided. Economy: IBRAM and ANM. Staff: TCU, MME and ANM. Amounts in reais are nominal.