Carajás arrival and briefing.   After a pre-dawn start, the group flew north from Belo Horizonte, via Brasilia and Araguaina to Carajás, arriving in the early afternoon to be welcomed by Vale staff.   They were taken to a lodge in the Carajás Nucleo and after refreshments commenced a series of briefings on the Carajás operation and its geology and mineralisation by Gesner Santos and mine geologist Roberta Marais.   The briefing session lasted until the early evening, and also included presentations from the tour group for the benefit of our hosts.   The session had ended just as the monkeys began to scream just prior to sunset in the adjacent tropical forest that engulfs the whole Carajás mining area.   Just after sunset, the group walked up to the town square, the Feirinha, for a relaxing dinner under the stars after another long day.
Photographs by Mike Porter.