Iron square

-20.25 -43.5Coordinates: 20 ° 15 ′ 0 ″ S , 43 ° 30 ′ 0 ″ W.

Geological map

The iron square ( Portuguese Quadrilátero Ferrífero ) is an approximately 7,000 km ² area in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais , which is very rich in Precambrian iron ore deposits .

history

In the 18th and early 19th centuries, several hundred tons of gold were extracted from soap deposits in the Eisen-Viereck . Hence the city of Ouro Preto got its name.

Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege stayed in Minas Gerais from 1810 to 1821 and described several minerals. Claude-Henri Gorceix later researched the geology of the area.

geology

The iron square is mountainous and lies on the watershed between the Rio Doce and the Rio São Francisco . The rivers are deeply cut. Periodic erosion has resulted in several areas of erosion that are important for the formation of supergenic (secondary) deposits.

The Itabira Group contains the highest quality iron ores. Weathering of the Cauê- Itabirite has resulted in large reserves of low- grade deposits. Weathering also resulted in lateritic manganese ores .

William Hyde Wollaston isolated palladium from a deposit here.

Mines

Most of the mines are owned by Vale (formerly Minerações Brasileiras Reunidas / MBR):

mine	operator	Coordinates
Alegria	Vale
Germano	Samarco Mineração
Timbopeba	Vale
Fábrica Nova	Vale
Capanema	Vale
Capitao do Mato	Vale
Itabirito	Vale

The ore is transported away via the railway lines of MRS Logística and Ferrovia Centro Atlântica . For the mine Germano also one was until 1977 slurry - Pipeline by Espírito Santo built.

Cities in the Iron Square

Source:

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b ^c ^d John VN Dorr II .: Physiographic, stratigraphic, and structural development of the Quadrilatero Ferrifero, Minas Gerais, Brazil . In: USGS Numbered Series . Professional Paper 641-A. USGS , 1969 ( usgs.gov [PDF]).
↑ Alexandre Raphael Cabral, Armin Zeh, Nikola Koglin, Antônio Augusto Seabra Gomes, Deiwys José Viana, Bernd Lehmann: Dating the Itabira iron formation, Quadrilátero Ferrífero of Minas Gerais, Brazil, at 2.65Ga: Depositional U – Pb age of zircon from a metavolcanic layer . In: Precambrian Research . Vol. 204–205, May 1, 2012, ISSN 0301-9268 , pp. 40–45 , doi : 10.1016 / j.precamres.2012.02.006 (English, sciencedirect.com [accessed on July 6, 2019]).
^ William Hyde Wollaston: On Platina and Native Palladium from Brasil . In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society . tape 99 , January 1, 1809, p. 189–194 , doi : 10.1098 / rstl.1809.0012 ( PDF ).
^ BEA Jacobs: Design of Slurry Transport Systems . CRC Press, 2003, ISBN 978-0-203-21591-3 ( Google Books ).
↑ Municípios do QFe ( Memento of May 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive )

[dorr-1] A ^b ^c ^d John VN Dorr II .: Physiographic, stratigraphic, and structural development of the Quadrilatero Ferrifero, Minas Gerais, Brazil . In: USGS Numbered Series . Professional Paper 641-A. USGS , 1969 ( usgs.gov [PDF]).

[2] Alexandre Raphael Cabral, Armin Zeh, Nikola Koglin, Antônio Augusto Seabra Gomes, Deiwys José Viana, Bernd Lehmann: Dating the Itabira iron formation, Quadrilátero Ferrífero of Minas Gerais, Brazil, at 2.65Ga: Depositional U – Pb age of zircon from a metavolcanic layer . In: Precambrian Research . Vol. 204–205, May 1, 2012, ISSN 0301-9268 , pp. 40–45 , doi : 10.1016 / j.precamres.2012.02.006 (English, sciencedirect.com [accessed on July 6, 2019]).

[3] William Hyde Wollaston: On Platina and Native Palladium from Brasil . In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society . tape 99 , January 1, 1809, p. 189–194 , doi : 10.1098 / rstl.1809.0012 ( PDF ).

[4] BEA Jacobs: Design of Slurry Transport Systems . CRC Press, 2003, ISBN 978-0-203-21591-3 ( Google Books ).

[5] Municípios do QFe ( Memento of May 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive )