The province of Minas Geraes ocupies a vast extent in the empire of Brazil, its superficies being about 900,000 square kilometers, representing nearly a third of the total surface.
The population is relatively small and is disseminated throughout a much broken country, where the means of communication are very few. So it is necessary to succeed in producing what iron is needed by means that are simple and that require but quickly erected works built of such material as may be at hand. The iron ore is found in very great abundance in this region and is very easily mined.
In the center of a mass of quartzites that seem to constitute the upper level of the eruptive grounds of the province, there are found strata of an ore of iron designated as itabirite--a mixture of oxide of iron and quartz. These strata are of great thickness, and have numerous outcrops that permit of their being worked by quarrying.
These itabirites present themselves under two very distinct aspects and offer a certain difference in their composition.

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