Carajás mine
 Carajás mine open pit. | |
  Carajás mine Location in Brazil | |
| Location |
|
|---|---|
| Products | Iron ore |
| Production | 1 million metric tons of iron ore |
| Financial year | 2007 |
| Opened | 1969 |
| Closed | NA |
| Company | Vale S.A. |
| Acquired | 1995 |
The Carajás Mine is the largest iron ore mine in the world.[2] It is located in the municipality of Parauapebas, state of Pará in the Carajás Mountains of northern Brazil. The mine is operated as an open-pit mine, and is estimated to contain roughly 7.2 billion metric tonnes of iron ore, plus gold, manganese, bauxite, copper, and nickel. [3] The mine is run by the Brazilian mining corporation Vale (formerly the Companhia Vale do Rio Doce), and was initially part-owned with US Steel from 1970 to 1977.[3]
The mine is located in the mining concession area of the Carajás National Forest, which "contains known reserves of 18 billion tons with an average grade of 65.4% Fe."[3]
The mine is largely powered by hydroelectric power from the Tucuruí Dam.[4] In 2025 Vale was using artificial intelligence in managing operations at the mine, including the use of driverless trucks.[2] The Carajás Railway carries the ore to the ports of São Marcos Bay in Maranhão for export.[5][6]
Geology
The mine lies in the banded iron formations in the southeastern portion of the Amazon Craton. The rocks range from the Archean to Paleoproterozoic in age.[1][7] In addition to iron the deposits include manganese, bauxite, nickel, and other potential ores.[8]
Notes and references
- 1 2 "Carajás mineral province, Pará, Brazil". Mindat. 26 September 2025.
- 1 2 Silva, Jorge (4 November 2025). "From pickaxes to AI, COP30 host state holds past and future of Amazon mining". Reuters. Archived from the original on 4 November 2025.
- 1 2 3 "Carajas Iron Ore Mine - Mining Technology". Retrieved 2012-04-09.
- ↑ "Mining Giant Joins Belo Monte Dam - International Rivers". Retrieved 2012-04-09.
- ↑ "Ferroviário - ANTT". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2015-06-01.
- ↑ Guerra, Ian (21 August 2026). "Brazil's vast iron mine that supplies the world and fractures the Amazon – in pictures". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
- ↑ "Carajás iron complex, Parauapebas, Pará, Brazil". Mindat. 16 August 2025.
- ↑ Martini, Sergio L. (2003). Geologia dos depósitos minerais de Carajás (PDF) (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro: Companhia de Pesquisa de Recursos Minerais (CPRM) and Serviço Geológico do Brasil.