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Mineral Industry and Market Opportunity
Brazil's mineral potential is thought to be unrivalled. Although the country has a long mining tradition, at the turn of the millennium, less than one-third of Brazil's total land area had been thoroughly prospected, which makes it a prime country for exploration.
Brazil has a rich mining history and its economy and infrastructure are heavily dependant on the mining sector. It ranks as the most attractive market for exploration and production in Latin America and is one of the five most important mineral producers in the world.
Brazil has a diversified mineral production with more than 107 different types of mineral products and is among the world leaders in mineral reserves and production of a number of different minerals.
Brazil is the world's largest producer of niobium. It is the world's second largest producer of iron ore and the world's third largest producer of aluminum, graphite, and manganese. Brazil is home to the largest deposit of bauxite in Latin America and is Latin America's largest exporter of niobium, iron, tin, lithium, tantalum and gem minerals.
Brazil is also well-known for its placer diamond deposits. Prior to the discovery of the diamond fields in South Africa in the late 1800's, Brazil was the world's leading source of diamonds. It is estimated that Brazil has produced over 50 million carats since diamonds were discovered in the state of Minas Gerais back in 1720.
Prior to 1995, the federal mining laws in Brazil were restrictive to foreign companies and, as a result, many companies chose to concentrate their exploration efforts outside of this mineral rich country. However, after a constitutional amendment was passed in August of 1995 granting foreign companies the right to hold majority ownership in Brazilian projects, there has been a strong resurgence in both exploration and mining activity within this friendly country.
In 2000, the National Department of Mineral Production (DNPM) issued a "Multi-Year Development Plan for the Mineral Sector" indicating that US$ 35 billion of investment in the mining sector will be required by 2010.
Brazil in General
Brazil is Latin America's largest country with a surface area of 8.5 million square kilometers, an area five times the size of the state of Texas. Brazil's population is approximately 180 million, with the majority of people living in the Southern part of the country in the main cities such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. São Paulo is Latin America's largest city and one of the five largest in the world. Brazil's GDP in 2004 exceeded US$ 1.3 trillion—one of the world's top ten economies.
Brazil has a highly developed infrastructure with all 26 states interconnected by both rail and road. It has 24 sea ports which move approximately 400 million tonnes of goods per annum. All municipalities and other locations are interconnected by telephone systems and the country is currently installing fiber optic systems which will be integrated with 40 countries.
The climate in Brazil is largely tropical with more temperate regions in the south. The topography of the country is mostly flat with rolling lowlands in the north, some plains and a narrow coastal belt. The official language is Portuguese, with English, Spanish and French spoken by many. The capital city is Brasilia, located near the center of the country.
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