As dependence on the extraction of natural resources for three BRICS countries studied in this paper (Brazil, Russia and South Africa) seems inevitable in the short and even medium-term perspective, these countries will face the need for deep modernization of their extractive industries. This paper sets out to analyze the R&D policies of Brazil, Russia, and South Africa; including Canada with its sizeable and innovative extractive industry to offer a perspective for benchmarking. The methodology of the research combines content analysis of major scientific publications and monitoring research results, as well as policy analysis of key national government regulations in place. We consulted the data produced by major international statistical agencies like the OECD Statistics Directorate and Eurostat. Besides that, there are not many differences in the innovation policy instruments used in developed countries vs. fast growing economies. Rather, it is their synergy, governance, targeted design, and application that make up all the differences. All four countries that were studied emphasized the overarching R&D-related policy goals like achieving a certain GDP percentage of R&D investment. However, it seems that definite fine-tuning of policy tools and structural reforms successfully implemented in developed countries is required in the case of developing countries. Future research should focus more on the necessity of a fine-tuned policy mix for commodity-based economies to the requirements of the existing industry base. As the entrepreneurial activity in these countries is naturally limited and clustered around resource-based industries, research on policy-making should more strongly focus on companies of this sector and their influence on entrepreneurship for the economy as a whole.