Itabira


Itabira

 

a city in Brazil, in the state of Minas Gerais. Population, 56,000 (1970). Itabira has a railroad station.

Itabira is the chief town in an area of major iron-ore deposits. Aggregate ore reserves are estimated at 30 billion tons, half of which contain more than 60 percent iron. Mining, with an annual output of up to 25 million tons of iron ore, is controlled by a state company, Companahia Vale do Rio Doce. In 1967 ore mining was begun by a consortium, CAEMI; the consortium includes the national Azevedo Antunes group, with 51 percent of the stock, and the Hanna Corporation of the USA. The ore is exported (28 million tons in 1970) through the ports of Vitória, Tubarão, and Sepetiba. Itabira has a special-steels plant.