Three speakers from my research group (Adrian Finch, Anouk Borst and Nicky Horsburgh) have been invited as keynote speakers to the “SOS RARE: Brazilian symposium on rare-earth elements” http://www.ifsc.usp.br/~emulabram/symposium.html to be held in early November in Sao Paolo, Brazil. The symposium will also involve field excursions to the carbonatite at Araxa (the world’s largest Nb mine) and carbonatite at Cajati in Sao Paolo state.