The Carajás Mine is the largest iron ore mine in the world. It is located in the municipality of Parauapebas, state of Pará in the Carajás Mountains of Northern Brazil. The mine is operated as an open-pit mine, and is estimated to contain roughly 7.2 billion tons of iron ore, plus gold, manganese, bauxite, copper, and nickel. The mine is run by Vale (formerly the Companhia Vale do Rio Doce) and was previously part-owned with US Steel until 1977. [1]