What is the carajas project?

Answer 1

12 facts about the Carajas Project

1. The Carajas is an open pit mine where minerals are removed from the surface one layer at a time

2. The Carajas mine is one of the world's largest deposits of iron ore. It stretches across more than six miles of rainforest in the northeastern Brazil

3. In 2007, 296 million metric tons of iron ore were dug out of the mine, which is estimated to contain a total of 18 billion tons of iron ore, gold, manganese, copper, and nickel

4. The mine is one of scores of mining, hydropower, agricultural, and road projects that are increasingly removing the world's largest rainforest

5. The area is estimated to hold enough reserves to carry on mining for the next 400 years

6. Most of the ore is taken 690km from the mine to the port of Sao Luis on the Atlantic coast by rail

7. It is exported to countries such as Japan, Korea and Germany. The remainder is used in Brazilian steelworks. These provide finished steel for the home market

8. The project has aimed to restrict the numbers of trees being demolished in the rainforest and has only cut down trees on 1.6% of the area it occupies

9. The Carajas mine depends on overseas markets to purchase much of its iron ore

10. To the north-west of Carajas, on the south bank of the River Amazon, is the large bauxite mine, (used for making aluminum) at Trombetas

11. Mining and refining these valuable metals need large amounts of electricity which has therefore been provided by the Tucurui HEP

12. Building the railway to Sao Luis caused further dispute amongst the natives living there