LRS General Discussion, page-9396

https://lawsofbrazil.com/mining-law/

Exploration licence
For the vast majority of minerals, the first step required to be taken is to file a request for an exploration licence (requerimento de autorização de pesquisa).Interested parties must file for the exploration licence at the ANM office with jurisdiction where the relevant tenement is located. The request must contain, among other things, a project for the exploration work to be undertaken, which must be prepared by a registered geologist. All applications are given priority on a first-to-file basis.If the exploration licence is approved, the ANM will issue the exploration licence (autorização de pesquisa). Under the licence, the licensee will have one to three years (with the option to extend it for another period of one to three years) to explore the area according to the approved plan to prove the existence of the mineral and the economic feasibility of its extraction.Once the exploration is completed, the licensee must submit to ANM a final exploration report. If the report is approved, the interested party will have one year from the date of approval to apply for an extraction licence. This period may be extended for another year. Where an individual holds the exploration licence, he or she must set up a legal entity or transfer the rights over the tenement to a legal entity within this period.