=Brazil.=--The iron-ore deposits of Minas Geraes, Brazil, are among the most important in the world. The ore bodies, which as yet are practically undeveloped, lie in an area roughly 100 miles square, the center of which is 225 miles in a direct line north of Rio de Janeiro. The principal ores are hematite and are associated as beds and lenses with a laminated ferruginous quartzite known as “itabirite” that covers many square miles. The interlayered beds and lenses of ore are high grade, carrying up to 69 or 70 per cent. of metallic iron and averaging between 0.003 and 0.025 per cent. phosphorus. Nearly all ores of this type are of Bessemer or low-phosphorus grade. There are also large areas of recently formed surface ores consisting of mixed hematite and limonite moderately high in phosphorus; these average 55 to 65 per cent. in metallic iron. On account of the distance from the coast and high cost of transportation, only the high-grade bedded ores are considered at present as available. The Central Railroad of Brazil runs through the iron-ore district to the port of Rio, 310 miles from the southern edge of the district, but unfortunately, on account of heavy grades, it can not be used for extensive transportation of iron ores. As workable bodies of coal suitable for iron manufacture are not known to exist in Brazil, the Minas Geraes deposits have up to the present produced little ore. The principal iron-ore deposits of Minas Geraes are owned by the Itabria Iron Ore Co., the St. John del Rey Gold Mining Co., Ltd., the Brazilian Iron & Steel Co., and the Compania Metallurgica, the first two being English, the third American, and the fourth Brazilian. The Deutsch-Luxemburgisches Bergwerks und Hütten Aktiengesellschaft (German), the Société Anonyme Franco-Bresiliene (French), Jules Bernard, Mathiew Goudchaux et Cie (French), the Minas Geraes Iron Syndicate (American), and others, own local deposits. The following table shows approximately the tonnage of ore controlled by each nationality: TABLE 20.--BRAZILIAN IRON ORE CONTROLLED BY DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES ----------+--------------------- | Millions of tons | (long tons) +--------+------------ |Bessemer|Non-Bessemer ----------+--------+------------ English | 145 | 300 American | 160 | 420 French | 21 | 15 German | 40 | 10 Brazilian | 44 | 400 +--------+------------ Total | 410 | 1,145 ----------+--------+------------ Iron ores similar to those of Minas Geraes, and magnetite deposits of minor importance are reported in other parts of Brazil.