File number: brhe0031

© South American Pictures/ Tony Morrison

Brazil: Pará state: Carajás is one of the world's largest mining operations. It is located in the Serra dos Carajás, a beautiful range of hills in eastern Amazonia. Discovered in 1968 when a mining survey crew made an emergency helicopter landing, Carajás is reckoned to have 18 billion tons of iron-ore, sufficient to guarantee production for another 400 years, and vast deposits of gold, manganese, copper and nickel.