Power Minerals Ltd. has signed a formal agreement with the government of Minas Gerais, granting priority-project status to its Morro do Ferro rare earth project in southern Brazil.
The agreement places the project within the state’s specialised priority framework. This provides coordinated government support across economic development and environmental agencies as the company advances exploration, technical studies, and future environmental licensing.
Under the framework, environmental assessment for Morro do Ferro will be directed to the specialised review division (SUPPRI) within the state’s environment ministry (SEMAD), with technical environmental evaluations undertaken by the State Environment Foundation (FEAM).
State investment agency Invest Minas and the Secretariat of Economic Development (SEDE) will also assist with inter-agency engagement, local supplier networking, and evaluating potential state investment incentives.
While the priority designation streamlines regulatory pathways, it does not bypass standard approvals. The project remains subject to Brazil’s three-stage environmental licensing process, including comprehensive environmental impact studies (EIA/RIMA) prior to future construction or operation.
Power Minerals CEO Alistair Stephens welcomed the agreement as a vital institutional milestone for the project, located in the Poços de Caldas alkaline complex.
“The state has agreed to apply its priority-project framework to our rare earth project at Poços de Caldas, and to coordinate the economic-development and environmental agencies as we move from drilling into studies and, in due course, licensing,” Stephens said.
“We will keep advancing Morro do Ferro in the right order — finish the current drill program, complete mineralogical and metallurgical test work, and work toward a maiden JORC Mineral Resource. The agreement supports that work. It does not replace it.”
Morro do Ferro is a high-grade rare-earth project in the Poços de Caldas alkaline complex in Minas Gerais.
Power acquired Morro do Ferro in April and is currently undertaking a maiden diamond drilling campaign to establish an initial JORC-compliant resource estimate, following exceptional high-grade drill intercepts hosted near surface.
