On the Edge of the Abyss

Mining complex, Brumadinho

The mountains of Equilibrium and the Three Brothers are part of a range that runs for several hundred kilometres north towards the state of Bahia. Despite their beguiling names, they hide an unspeakable horror. From one side the lower slopes are covered in lush woodlands before breaking out into rocky outcrops. I had carefully planned my route and was mindful of the rusty signs that warned of wild animals, although the biggest danger in such terrain are the slippery rocks and loose stones. I knew I was getting close to the zone  when the sonic landscape changed from a jungle symphony to industrial menace. I hit the ridge and what at ground level is hidden from view unfolded in all of its monstrousness. So, this is what the International Companies call sustainable mining. Photographs can never really capture the full scale of this total environmental devastation that is camouflaged by a fine art spectrum of rich earthy ochres. The machinery and explosions stretch without end into the distance, the whole Serra pulverised as if it was made of nothing more than loose sand. The only birds to be seen are vultures scouring the rocks for the dead. Up every road and track in this part of Brasil lies the evidence of mining, not just the vast semi-legal mining operations conducted by corporations like Vale and Samarco, but dozens of smaller mines excavated by clandestine speculators who invade land and protected forest. Analogies are frequently made to lunar landscapes bereft of organic life, but it felt to me that I was looking down on a war zone, a war of annihilation.