Morro Velho, also called AngloGold Ashanti Brasil Mineração, after its current owner
AngloGold Ashanti, is a complex of
gold mines located near the city of
Nova Lima in the
Minas Gerais state of
Brazil.
It is one of two mining operations of the company in Brazil, the other being the
Serra Grande Gold Mine
The Serra Grande Gold Mine is a gold mine located 5 km from Crixás, in the Goiás state of Brazil. It is jointly owned by AngloGold Ashanti and Kinross Gold Corporation Kinross Gold Corporation is a Canadian-based gold and silver mining co ...
.
In 2008, the Brazilian operations contributed 8% to the company's overall production.
[AngloGold Ashanti: Country report Brazil]
AngloGold Ashanti website, accessed: 13 July 2010
History
The
mines have been in operation since 1725 and came under the proprietorship of the English
Saint John Del Rey Mining Company in 1834. In this period the mine was amongst others instrumental in the establishment of a hydro-electrical power plant, a state of the art hospital, the
Villa Nova AC
A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became sm ...
association football team, which had some importance between the 1930s and 1970s and the construction of a circa 10 kilometre
tramway line between Nova Lima and
Raposos
Raposos is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais. The city belongs to the mesoregion Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte and to the microregion of Belo Horizonte.
Geography
The municipality contains the Raposos gold mines open ...
, considered the first in South America.
In 1915, the Morro Velho mine reached a vertical depth of 5,824 feet, which made it the deepest mine in the world. The miners continued going deeper, and the mine kept the title of world’s deepest until 1928, when the Village Deep mine in South Africa reached a vertical depth of 8,000 feet, exceeding the depth of the Morro Velho, which was 7,126 feet in 1929.
[Jacob E. Gair, Geology and Ore Deposits of the Nova Lima and Rio Acima Quadrangles, Minas Gerais Brazil,” US Geological Survey, Professional Paper 341-A, p.A54-A55.] The mine changed its ownership later on to the Carvalhaes family.
In 1975 the South Africa based ''Anglo American Corporation,'' a precursor to today's AshantiGold, became owners of the operations. These days Morro Velhos is the world's oldest continuously worked mine. Some of the mines' works are over 3,000 meters (9,800 ft) deep underground. Although Morro Velho's main production is
gold,
silver,
arsenic, and other minerals are also extracted at the mining complex.
Despite closing of the Minha Velha and Engenho D'Água mines in 2003 and 2004, gold production has increased over the past three years, with 240,000 ounces (6,800 kilograms) of gold produced in 2004 at an average recovered
ore grade of 0.222 ounces per ton (7.62 grams per
metric ton). Cash costs of production totalled $133 per ounce, with the mine realizing adjusted operating profit of $45 million.
In 2009, the mine employed close to 3,000 people, 2,250 of those being permanent staff.
Production
Recent production figures of the mine were:
Images
Novo Lima (MG) - St John Del Rey Mining Co - 1869.jpg , Saint John Del Rey Mining Company 1868
Kosmos morro velho 1907 3.jpg , Morro Velho 1907
Nova Lima (MG) - Bicame.jpg , Aqueduct constructed by the English to wash gold.
References
External links
AngloGold Ashanti websiteAngloGold Ashanti: Country report Brazil* Jolyon Ralph, Ida Chau:
', Mindat.org (per 2014-05-20).
* Augusto Wagner:
', Arquivo Campeões do Futebol, 2012-06-28.
*
Centro de Memória Morro Velho: Respeito ao passado, referência para o presente e inspiração para inovações futuras.',
AngloGold Ashanti, 2010.
{{AngloGold Ashanti
Gold mines in Brazil
Silver mines in Brazil
Arsenic mines in Brazil
Underground mines in Brazil
AngloGold Ashanti
Buildings and structures in Minas Gerais
Geography of Minas Gerais