Brazil/brazil210
Previous | Home | NextThe Andes are familiar to everyone, but there is another mountainous region in South America that is an important source of minerals and gemstones. This region lies in Minas Gerais, a state in the southeast part of Brazil. Minas Gerais is the size of France; its name means "General Mines," reflecting the historic importance of gold, silver, copper, iron, and other metals found there. Whereas the Andes are young geologically -- in fact, they are still being formed -- the mountains of Minas Gerais are old, dating back to the time that Gondwana (a precursor to Pangea supercontinent) was being formed, 800 to 550 million years ago, as a melange of continents and islands collided to form the supercontinent. (Pangea broke up about 150 million years ago to form the separate South America and Africa continents).
