Industrial mining in the Amazon and its implications for regional development

The commercial development of mineral resources in the eastern Brazilian Amazon has taken place over the last five decades. In spite of the range of minerals that have been extracted and processed and the different historical periods, the repercussions of the development of certain regional areas have certain important specificities and have a certain logic and characteristics in common. This article synthesizes the macro-level scenarios in which mineral extraction and transformation companies have become established in the region. It also analyzes the limitations of the development of such activities have with respect to promoting and fostering broad and socially rooted development.