The first evidences of bauxite in the Amazon region, more specifically in the Western portion of the State of Pará, were discovered by Alcan back in the 1960s. Since then, the Alcan Group in Brazil took part in the setting up of Mineração Rio do Norte S.A. - MRN.

At the end of 1971, Alcan set the ball rolling in the implementation of the Trombetas Project, but soon afterwards the work was put on hold as a result of the depression that was affecting the world aluminum market at that time. In October 1972, the Vale do Rio Dace Company and Alcan resumed talks with a view to establishing a joint venture to revive the implementation of the project. In June 1974, an agreement was signed between the shareholders of Mineração Rio do Norte S.A., which currently consist of the following companies: Vale (40%), BHP Billiton Metais (14,8%) Rio Tinto Alcan (12%), CBA-Votorantim (10%), Alcoa Brazil (8,58%), Alcoa World Alumina (5%), Norsk Hydro (5%) and Abalco (4,62%).

The construction of the project once again got under way in the first quarter of 1976, while mineral extraction activities commenced in April 1979. On August 13th of this same year, the first load of bauxite was sent by ship to Canada.

Mineração Rio do Norte's business operations in Porto Trombetas comprise the extraction of minerals, enrichment, rail transport, drying and shipment by sea.

Initially, the production capacity stood at 3.35 million tonnes annually. Through the first years of the company's operation, the production capacity was gradually increased, thanks to increased demand from the market and the widespread acceptance of the bauxite produced by MRN in refineries throughout the world.

In 2003, MRN ended an expansion process raising production capacity to as much as 16.3 million tonnes per year. In 2007, MRN produced 18,1 million tonnes.

 

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