Mining in Brazil

Eight elements totaled 98.6% of the value: aluminum, copper, tin, iron, manganese, niobium, nickel and gold.

The biggest Brazilian highlight is in iron, which has the majority of the participation, whose production is mostly carried out in the states of Minas Gerais and Pará.

According to the National Department of Mineral Production (DNPM), in 2011 there were 8,870 mining companies in the country, and in the Southeast Region, this number reached 3,609, about 40% of the total.

In the Southeast region, iron ore, gold, manganese and bauxite stand out in the Quadrilátero Ferrífero; niobium and phosphate in Araxá; gems, in Governador Valadares; and graphite, in Salto da Divisa, all in the state of Minas Gerais; in addition to aggregates, in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and ornamental rocks, in Espírito Santo.

Brazil is the second largest global iron ore exporter and has the second position in the reserve ranking: under Brazilian soil there are at least 29 billion tons .

[20] Santa Catarina is the largest coal producer in Brazil, mainly in the city of Criciúma and surroundings.

The oil crisis in the 1970s led the Brazilian government to create the Energy Mobilization Plan, with intense research to discover new coal reserves.

The Geological Survey of Brazil, through works carried out in Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, greatly increased the reserves of coal previously known, between 1970 and 1986 (mainly between 1978 and 1983).

Good quality coal, suitable for use in metallurgy and in large volume (seven billion tons), was then discovered in several deposits in Rio Grande do Sul (Morungava, Chico Lomã, Santa Teresinha), but at relatively great depths (up to 1,200 m), which has hindered its use until now.

This gem is also produced in Espírito Santo, Rio Grande do Norte, Ceará, Alagoas and Paraíba.

The largest world producer of amethyst is Brazil, in the states of Rio Grande do Sul mainly, and secondarily, in Bahia.

This stone was very rare and expensive worldwide, until the discovery of large deposits in Brazil, causing its value to drop considerably.

Mining first occurred in the Serra da Canastra, Diamantina region, and then, in 1850, in Bahia, even dropping the price of stone worldwide due excess production.

In garnet, Brazil is not one of the largest producers, but there is extraction in Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Bahia, Paraíba, Ceará, Rondônia and Rio Grande do Norte .

In Brazil there are also some jasper in Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul.

Another rare stone to be found in Brazil is opal, but there are deposits in Piauí, Bahia, Ceará and in Rio Grande do Sul.

Sapphire is also scarce in Brazil, but can be found in Mato Grosso, Goiás, Santa Catarina and Minas Gerais.

It is also among the world's largest producers of tourmaline, in the states of Minas Gerais, Ceará, Goiás and Bahia.