What are Brazil’s mining regimes and what does each one require?

In Brazil, mineral development follows regimes defined by the Mining Code. Each has its own purpose, deadlines and documents.

Exploration Permit. Allows the deposit to be investigated in an area for a set period. The application includes the exploration plan, the budget and the maps of the area, signed by a licensed professional. The area must be free on the day of the application: whoever applies first for a free area has priority.

Mining Concession. Authorizes extraction after the agency approves the final exploration report. The explorer has 1 year (extendable) to apply for mining, with the Economic Development Plan and proof of the environmental license application. The concession is granted by ordinance of the Minister of Mines and Energy.

Licensing. For sand, gravel, clay soil, crushed stone, clay, agricultural limestone, dimension stone and other substances listed in law, in areas of up to 50 hectares. Only the landowner (or someone they authorize) can apply. It requires the municipal license, registration of that license with the agency, and the environmental license.

Artisanal Mining Permit. For substances suitable for artisanal mining (such as gold and diamonds), applied for by a Brazilian citizen or a cooperative of artisanal miners. It requires a prior environmental license.

Extraction Registry. For public bodies (direct administration and autonomous agencies) to extract sand, gravel and other construction materials, only for public works they carry out themselves. Selling the material is prohibited. It applies to areas of up to 5 hectares.

Exploration and mining are stages on the same path; licensing, artisanal mining and the extraction registry are paths of their own. In TERRADAR, you see which regime and stage each tenement is in and the pending matters running on it.