Brazil ranks its critical minerals and puts a gatekeeper at the door

Brazil now has an official answer to a question that has hovered for months: which of its minerals matter most. On Thursday, the National Council for the Industrialization of Critical and Strategic Minerals (CIMCE), tied to the Presidency, approved a list of 27 substances split into three priority classes. The ranking decides who gets public money and how closely the government will watch who buys what.