The hunt for red ore
(May 29, 2002) After years of exploration, the geologists and their local guides found what they had been looking for enormous deposits of bauxite.
The year was 1967, the place was the Saracá plateau, near the Trombetas River in Oriximiná, deep in the Amazon jungle between the cities of Manaus and Santarém. It was here that geologists from the Canadian aluminium company Alcan and their local guides discovered what would make Brazil the world’s third-largest supplier of bauxite.
Today the landscape looks almost unreal. Blue skies over red clay as far as the eye can see. The only thing breaking the monotony is a gigantic excavator moving slowly on broad tracks, like an enormous toy.
 BIGGEST AND BEST: Rising production and recognized bauxite quality put MRN at the top of the heap. (Photo: Jarle Ree)
|
| |
The mining company Mineracão Rio do Norte, in which Hydro has a 5 per cent stake, acknowledges that the open cast mining has had a detrimental effect on the local environment. Most visible is that marshes and lakes have filled up with sludge. But now things have changed. In the 1990s the company introduced new technology to treat its waste, and universities and other technical institutions became involved in research projects to replant the areas where the bauxite had been extracted. The forest is gradually growing up and reclaiming the red clay.
Hydro Aluminium’s assistant vice president Jon Arild Larsen has studied every single bauxite mine in the world today, and he is in no doubt. Not only is the quality of the bauxite mined at Trombetas the best in the world, the company is also first rate when it comes to operating performance and environmental care.
“I rank Trombetas number one in these areas,” says Larsen.
The mine at Trombetas carries out a larger number of operations than is usual. Here the bauxite is crushed, washed, transported to the quay by rail and dried before being shipped on. At the simplest bauxite mines, the ore is transported directly to the alumina refineries.
Forestry experts have determined that planting two types of trees gives the best results. First plants and trees which bind the soil and keep the fertilizer in place, then trees which provide shade. Too much sun means the vegetation shrivels up and dies.
“Independent surveys have concluded that the results of reforestation and the environmental efforts being made by the company have succeeded surprisingly well,” Larsen explains.
“The result is very satisfactory, both aesthetically and in terms of carbon dioxide absorption – nature’s own life cycle. Unfortunately, it is not possible to recreate the rain forest in its original form. Some plant genes will inevitably have been lost.”
Since the first shipment of bauxite departed from the dock at Trombetas in 1979, annual production has risen from 3.35 million metric tons to 11 million tons. In 2003, when the current expansion project has been completed, Trombetas will have a production capacity of 16.3 million tons.
This means that Trombetas will move up from third place to first on the list of the world’s largest bauxite mines. At today’s production the mines at Trombetas supply nearly 10 per cent of the world’s demand.
“The quality of the bauxite from Trombetas is already recognized as the best, and our business – including our environmental activities – has won acclaim. In other words, we are already top of the class. Now we want to be biggest as well,” says mining engineer Ademar Cavalcanti Silva Filho, who is administration and personnel manager at Mineracão Rio do Norte.
| 