It
may be said that little is known of the true extent of the mineral
resources of Brazil. The data which is divulged in publications or
reports accessible only with difficulty by the public are, with rare
end significant exceptions, antiquated and thus do not fully correspond
to the needs of the interested.
Some
years ago, while serving in the Brazilian Consulate in Yokohama, Japan,
the writer had the opportunity of assisting Consul Raul Bopp in the
preparation of Geografia Mineral which had as its objective the
evaluation of the international importance of the mineral wealth of
Brazil. This book, published in Japan and distributed in Brazil,
attained a popularity far beyond the expectations of its authors and
was depleted with surprising rapidity. At practically the same time,
there was edited'in the city of Sao Paulo a book which described the
mineral situation within the country, A Riqueza Mineral do Brasil, written
by Mr. S. Froes Abrcu. Being the work of a technician of unquestionable
authority in this field, it may be said to be one of the most complete
upon this subject. Later, Consul Josias Leao of the Commercial and
Economic Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote a monograph
of great, value, Mines and Minerals in Brazil, for distribution in the United States in which was included much information hitherto unpublished. The edition of Mines and Minerals in Brazil is
now completely exlxausted, the editors continuing to receivq requests
for copies, principally from the United States. In preparing, in 1940,
the annual edition of the survey of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,, Brazil, the
writer, with the assistance of Harry S. Ikuta and Americo Cury, members
of the Centro de Estudos Economicos, and the orientation of the
Director-General of the Departamento Nacional da Produgao MineraJ, Dr.
Luciano Jacques de Morals, organized a compilation of the above works
which had been published. It was thus possible to present an actualized
survey of the mineral situation which was further amplified with new
data in another bodk by this writer, Historia das Industrias no Brasil, published in 1941.
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