Mining often has a profound impact on both the physical landscape and people’s lives.
Mining companies, therefore, have a special responsibility in safeguarding and preserving cultural heritage – the material artefacts, structures, traditions, ceremonies, languages and creative expressions that have passed down through generations, and which, collectively, play a key part in shaping a people’s cultural identity.
Minas-Rio project: finding and preserving cultural heritage sites and archaeological remains
Through Minas-Rio’s Cultural Heritage Management Plan, which forms part of our internationally recognised, and publicly available, Social Way, we have invested more than $10 million to date on cultural heritage initiatives in Brazil, including field studies that have enabled us to identify over 100 archaeological sites and recovering more than 200,000 remains surrounding the sites.
In the process of developing Minas-Rio, we discovered two important pre-historic archaeological sites within the project area: the Stove Shelter and the Power Plant Shelter.
The sites contain evidence of some of the oldest indigenous populations of Brazil, who inhabited the region more than 10,000 years ago.
In 2013, Anglo American voluntarily committed to avoid any impact to the site, owing to its significance to the country’s cultural heritage.
The Minas-Rio project was redesigned, and the layout of the conveyor belt that transports iron ore to the coast was changed to ensure the site was protected.
Protecting cultural heritage for future generations
Our cultural heritage activities now extend far beyond our initial scope.
Working in close partnership with local communities and the authorities, we have an extensive restoration programme that includes cataloguing archaeological artefacts, renovating historical ruins, restoring churches and supporting artistic/cultural events in the community.
Our flagship is the Anglo American Science Station, which has become an interactive ‘living’ space for exhibiting and disseminating knowledge of the history and culture in this part of Conceição do Mato Dentro.
Architecturally dramatic, it includes two main Exhibition Halls, the Landscape Room and the Cultural Heritage Room, where visitors can time-travel interactively through, and between, geological and humankind timeframes.
Importantly, it is designed for everyone, with aids to assist people with physical disabilities, the visually impaired and the hard of hearing.
Serpentina
The integration of the contiguous Serra da Serpentina iron ore resource owned by Vale SA with our Minas-Rio mining area not only presents an opportunity to expand an already huge iron ore resource; it also raises the prospect of further archaeological discoveries.
All search activity will continue to be conducted in accordance, and aligned, with Anglo American and international standards of good practice.
