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Mines/Brazil

Carajas S11D / Northern System

Carajas S11D / Northern System, Brazil. Producing, open pit, mining iron ore since 1984.

Why Carajas S11D / Northern System is famous

Vale's Northern System in Para is the world's largest iron-ore province in use. Geological surveys began in 1922, US Steel explored from July 1967, Serra Norte began in 1984 and S11D (Serra Sul) in 2016. In 2025 Serra Norte produced 78.1 Mt and Serra Sul 86.0 Mt, including third-party purchases and run-of-mine feed.1,2

Story cards

What kind of deposit

Banded iron formation (Superior and Algoma types)

Carajas S11D / Northern System today

Where iron ore is mined todayMining in Brazil

Where next

Mines

Same kind of depositMount NewmanMt Newman began in 1969. Carajas Serra Norte followed in 1984.3

Deposit types

An example ofBanded iron formation (Superior and Algoma types)Carajas S11D / Northern System belongs to the banded iron formation family of deposits.4

Sources

  1. Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2025 Vale S.A. (SEC)
  2. data/minerals/operations.csv Prospector Trails (internal)
  3. Form 20-F for the year ended 30 June 2026 BHP Group (SEC)
  4. Mineral Deposit Models (Bulletin 1693, Cox and Singer, eds., 1986) US Geological Survey

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Conveyors, rail and ports by Kabelleger / David Gubler, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures: Kirunavaara gruva, Kiruna., Fotograf okänd, / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Mijnramp Bois du Caizier, Marcinelle, België. Schacht, Rossem, Wim van / Anefo / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0).