Carajás mine

The Carajás Mine is the largest iron ore mine in the world.^[2] It is located in the municipality of Parauapebas, state of Pará in the Carajás Mountains of northern Brazil. The mine is operated as an open-pit mine, and is estimated to contain roughly 7.2 billion metric tonnes of iron ore, plus gold, manganese, bauxite, copper, and nickel. ^[3] The mine is run by the Brazilian mining corporation Vale (formerly the Companhia Vale do Rio Doce), and was initially part-owned with US Steel from 1970 to 1977.^[3]

Carajás Mine

Carajás mine open pit.
Carajás mine Location in Brazil
Location
Location	Carajás mineral province, Parauapebas[1]
State	Pará
Country	Brazil
Coordinates	06°03′31″S 50°10′37″W
Production
Products	Iron ore
Production	1 million metric tons of iron ore
Financial year	2007
History
Opened	1969
Closed	NA
Owner
Company	Vale S.A.
Year of acquisition	1995

The mine is located in the mining concession area of the Carajás National Forest, which "contains known reserves of 18 billion tons with an average grade of 65.4% Fe."^[3]

The mine is largely powered by hydroelectric power from the Tucuruí Dam.^[4] In 2025 Vale was using artificial intelligence in managing operations at the mine, including the use of driverless trucks.^[2]

Geology

The mine lies in the banded iron formations in the southeastern portion of the Amazon Craton. The rocks range from the Archean to Paleoproterozoic in age.^[1][5] In addition to iron the deposits include manganese, bauxite, nickel, and other potential ores.^[6]