CBPM President Moderates Panel on Critical and Strategic Minerals at EXPOSIBRAM 2025

October 29, 2025 | By Editorial Staff

Brazil’s potential for critical and strategic minerals essential to the energy transition was the theme of a panel held at EXPOSIBRAM 2025 this afternoon (29), at the Salvador Convention Center. The president of the Bahia Mineral Production Company (CBPM), Henrique Carballal, moderated the panel “Brazilian Potential for Critical and Strategic Minerals,” one of the highlights of the congress.

The panel featured a strong lineup of participants, bringing together perspectives ranging from regional development to the global market. Speakers included Brian Leeners, CEO of Homerun Resources; Emerson Souza, Vice President of Institutional Relations at Brazil Iron; and Alfredo Santana, COO of Vale Base Metals.

The discussion focused on strategies for Brazil to add value to its mineral output instead of exporting only raw ore. It also addressed how incentive policies and legal security can attract responsible foreign investments, which are essential for the green transition.

Henrique Carballal, President of CBPM, emphasized that Bahia has the greatest mineral diversity in Brazil, positioning the state strategically within the new global economy, which is increasingly dependent on critical and strategic minerals.

“Our geological potential, combined with public policies and private sector partnerships, enables Bahia to lead this agenda with sustainability, innovation, and value creation. The world is undergoing a race for the energy transition, and Bahia is ready to be a protagonist in this economic, social, and environmental transformation,” he said.

Green Iron

The Green Iron Project, developed by Brazil Iron in partnership with CBPM, positions Bahia as a national reference in green steel production, strengthens the sector’s value chain, and contributes decisively to decarbonizing Brazil’s steel industry.

According to Emerson Souza, Brazil could follow Canada’s example, which in 2024 recognized high-purity iron ore as a critical mineral for the energy transition. That decision positioned Canada as a global leader in producing and exporting green iron—an essential component in decarbonizing the steel industry, one of the world’s largest carbon emitters.

“Adding this input to Brazil’s list of strategic minerals would bring significant benefits, especially for Bahia, which has abundant reserves and mineral quality compatible with green steel technologies such as DRI and electric furnaces. Beyond attracting investment and encouraging innovation, such a measure would strengthen the country’s competitiveness in global value chains that increasingly demand sustainability,” stated Emerson Souza, Vice President of Institutional Relations at Brazil Iron.

The project will enable Bahia to produce Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI), considered essential for transforming the global steel industry. This technology allows highly polluting coal furnaces to be replaced with electric furnaces powered by renewable energy, capable of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by up to 99%, placing Bahia at the forefront of the steel industry’s energy transition.

Energy Transition

According to Brian Leeners, Brazil holds a unique position to become a global economic leader in the electrification of the planet, driven by its wide range of critical and strategic resources, including wind and solar power sources—key to the global energy transition.

“The country is at a decisive moment: success in seizing and enabling this first phase of energy infrastructure and industry development will be crucial to reap the benefits of the second, which is the expansion of industrial capacity in advanced sectors, built on the competitive advantage of a clean, reliable, and accessible energy matrix,” said the CEO of Homerun Resources.