Serra Pelada

Serra Pelada (English: "Bald Ridge") is a Brazilian village and district of the Municipality of Curionópolis, in the southeast of Pará State. A former boomtown, it is best known for its open-pit mine, which operated from 1980 until the early 90s and is now a polluted lake.

Serra Pelada lies 430 kilometres (270 mi) south of the mouth of the Amazon River, and was rainforest until its initial settlement in the late 1970s. Its mine was made infamous by the still images taken by Alfredo Jaar and later by Sebastião Salgado and the first section of Godfrey Reggio's 1988 documentary Powaqqatsi, showing an anthill of workers moving vast amounts of ore by hand. Because of the chaotic nature of the operation estimating the number of miners was difficult, but at least 100,000 people were thought to be present, making it one of the largest mines in the world. Today the Serra Pelada mine is abandoned and the giant open pit that was created by hand has filled with water, creating a small polluted lake. However, mining operations in the area, particularly for hematite, have continued.

Municipal governance

The precise administrative status of Serra Pelada, a village of about 6,000 inhabitants, is unclear. As early as 1996, Serra Pelada was referred to as a district in its own right by the Chamber of Deputies. Documents of the city of Curionópolis and state of Pará have also referred to Serra Pelada as a district. However, Curionópolis City Council, the only body with jurisdiction, has never produced official legislation establishing Serra Pelada as a district.