of
the Bank of Brazil to which all the mined gold within the country must
be sold. However, scattered reports from the interior regions which are
sparsely inhabitated and those from persons closely connected with the
industry place the annual total at about 15,000 kilograms, the output
of the state of Mato Grosso (Brazil) being about one-third of this total.
Admitting such a figure and including the output of gold from the
mines would place Brazil in 12th place among world producers.
The
most recent discoveries of gold are in the state of Maranhao along the
Turi-Assu and Gurupi Rivers. In the headwaters of the rivers there are primary deposits while in their lower courses, there are alluvials. At
present, they are worked by extremely primitive methods and yield but
10 kilograms per month. The principal alluvial gold workings however,
are in the states of Baia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Goiaz, Maranhao
and Para.
The
presence of "alluvial gold" in the different regions of the country
suggests the existence of extensive deposits of "primary gold" also. The
industrial exploitation of gold in primary deposits was carried out by
two companies in the state of Minas Gerais, the St. John d'El Rey
Mining Co. and the Cia. Mi-uas de Passagem, until 1934, in which year
there appeared the St. George Gold Mine of Sao Paulo. By 1940, the
number of companies had increased to six, four of which were located in
the state of Minas Gerais, and two in the state cf Parana. The above
mentioned Sao Paulo mining company operated from 1934 to 1936 but has
not registered any outputs since the last date.
In
the 1925-9 period, the average annual output of mined gold was 3,077
kilograms, all of which was produced in the state of Minas Gerais.
During the following quinquennium, the output increased to 3,784
kilograms partly under the incentive of the gold purchase program
adopted by the Bank of Brazil in 1934. This law, however, shows its
true value in the 1935-9 period in which the average was 4,242
kilograms, the output of the state of Minas Gerais in 1939 being 4,492
kilograms and that of the state of Parana 123 kilograms. From 1935, the
trends in production are more clearly indicated in noting that they
were the following since that year: 1935 — 3,713 kilograms, 1936 —
3,909, 1937 — 4,534, 1938 — 4,447, 1939 — 4,614, and 1940 — 4,660
kilograms. In the latter year, the 4,434 kilograms of the state of
Minas Gerais (Brazil) accounted for 95% of the national total while the
remaining 5% was produced in the state of Parana which had an output of 226 kilograms.
The
largest concern in the gold mining industry is the St. John d'El Key
Mining Company of Minas Gerais which works the mines at Morro Velho,
Faria, Santa Catarina, Raposo, and Bicalho (Brazil). The first named mine is
2,600 meters deep and works with material which yields 13 to 14 grams
of gold per metric ton of ore. The daily production of the firm is
about 11 kilos of gold, 2 kilos of silver and 2 tons of white arsenic.
As noted in the section on Arsenic, this company employs 7,290 miners
and operates with a capital of 193,-700 contos. The output of this
company in 1940 was 3,945 kilos which represented 85 % of the total of Brazil.
