Mineração Rio do Norte stands in the municipality of Oriximiná, 880 kilometers from Belém, capital of the State of Pará. The history of the company started with the discovery of the first evidence of bauxite deposits in the Amazon region, in the extreme West of the State of Pará, by Alcan way back in the 1960s.

At the end of 1971, Alcan started to implement the Trombetas project. Soon afterwards, work was put on hold due to the depression that dogged the world aluminum market at that time. In October 1972, the Vale do Rio Doce company - CVRD and Alcan resumed talks to set up a joint venture with a view to taking up the implementation of the project. In June 1974, an agreement was signed between the shareholders of Mineração Rio do Norte, whose equity is currently divided among the following companies: CVRD (40%), BHP-Billiton (14.8%) Alcan (12%), CBA (10%), Alcoa Brazil (8.58%), Alcoa World Alumina (5%), Norsk Hydro (5%) e Abalco (4.62%).

The construction of the project got under way again in the first quarter of 1976, including the building of the urban nucleus of Porto Trombetas, with full infrastructure to cater a population of around 6 thousand. Mining activities got under way in April 1979 and in this same year we witnessed the first loading of minerals onto a ship bound for Canada.

Operations

The initial production capacity of MRN was set at 3.35 million tonnes annually. The increase in demand from the market and the wide acceptance of bauxite produced by MRN by refineries throughout the world favored the gradual increase in this capacity which currently stands at 11 million tonnes per year, which works out at 78% of Brazil's total bauxite production.

At present, the company is undergoing a new phase of expansion, to reach a production capacity of 16.3 million tonnes annually. This expansion work involves an investment to the tune of US$ 223 million, and is scheduled for completion in 2003.

The business operations of MRN in Porto Trombetas comprise bauxite mining, enrichment, transport by rail, drying and loading onto ships. Mining activities are carried out in the Saracá, Periquito and Almeidas mines which stand about 30 km south of the urban center of Porto Trombetas. With this recent expansion, the company has started to exploit a new bauxite deposit, known as Aviso.

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