Economy & Business - February 2026

The US, countries in the European Union (EU), and others have turbo-charged efforts to secure mining raw materials to keep strategic parts of their economies running. Enter Latin America, with a host of large-scale mining countries eager to tap considerable reserves of such critical minerals. Chile has launched a national critical minerals strategy, while Argentina and Mexico have signed a strategic mining accord with Washington. Brazil, the heavyweight among the lot, is already ratcheting up production of rare earth elements and drawing up an industrial development plan.