Rock & Mineral Resources

Brazil's tectonic stability is also the source of its mineral wealth. The ancient, deeply eroded rock of the Brazilian Shield — a Precambrian craton over a billion years old — exposes iron-rich banded formations at the surface across Minas Gerais and Pará that elsewhere on Earth remain buried under younger rock. This geology makes Brazil one of the top mineral producers on the planet.

#2 Global iron ore producer, after Australia

$22.2B Iron ore exports (341 Mt, 2019)

~90% Of world's niobium supply

170K+ Direct jobs in mining

Iron, Niobium & Gems

The Carajás Mine in Pará is the largest open-pit iron ore mine on Earth, holding an estimated 7.2 billion tonnes of reserves alongside manganese, copper, and gold. Minas Gerais supplies about 60% of national iron output and, remarkably, roughly 90% of the entire world's niobium — a metal essential for high-strength steel used in pipelines, jet engines, and bridges. Minas Gerais also produces 74% of Brazil's gemstones, including amethyst, imperial topaz, tourmaline, aquamarine, and emerald.

Jobs, Exports & Trade Routes

Mining generated roughly $41 billion in production value in 2020 and directly employs over 170,000 Brazilians, with many more jobs in transport and processing. Ore travels the 892 km Carajás Railroad to the port of Ponta da Madeira for shipment mainly to China, along with Japan, Europe, and other Asian steelmaking economies.

                The other side of resource wealth: mining has also driven two of Brazil's worst environmental disasters. The 2015 Mariana dam collapse released over 40 million m³ of iron-ore tailings that traveled 668 km down the Doce River to the Atlantic, and the 2019 Brumadinho dam failure killed 270 people and contaminated local waterways with heavy metals — both in Minas Gerais, underscoring how the same geology that generates export revenue also concentrates serious environmental and safety risk.
            

Vast iron mine carved out of Brazil's forest — video thumbnail

► Vast iron mine carved out of Brazil's forest The Washington Post — watch on YouTube ↗

An aerial look at the Carajás iron ore complex and its footprint on the surrounding Amazonian forest. Opens on YouTube in a new tab.

Amethyst Geode

Southern Brazil's basalt cavities host some of the world's largest amethyst geodes, a major export for the jewelry and decorative-mineral trade.

Why the Rock Runs Iron-Rich

The banded iron formations of Carajás and the Quadrilátero Ferrífero ("Iron Quadrangle") in Minas Gerais formed roughly 2.5 billion years ago, when dissolved iron in ancient oceans precipitated out as the atmosphere first became oxygen-rich — a geologic accident that now anchors an entire national industry.