International Railroad Discussion > Casa de Pedra - Brazil

After a long time without a railfaninig trip, I took the dirt roads again on Thursday 19 in search of MRS ore trains. Here are some pictures taken in Casa de Pedra loading facility in Congonhas, MG, about 97 Km from my home.

1) A view of Casa de Pedra loading facility. The area is owned by CSN Co. the biggest steel mill in Brazil. The mine started operations in 1913 and it is said to have 6 billions of tons of high quality iron ore. All farms around are being closed dure to the risk of accident caused of ore mud dams that can collapse;

2) The ore piled near the tracks to load the trains by conveyor belts;

3) The blue silos were never finished due to an error in the project. They are abandonned since 2005.

Pedro Rezende
Vespasiano MG,




Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/25 14:16 by pedrop.

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4) MRS AC44i 7251 and 7402 leading an empty ore pass by a train loading at Casa de Pedra. These are the Paraopeba tracks that serves many ore mines along its way from Conselheiro Lafaiete to Belo Horizonte (162 km);

5) MRS AC44i 7264 and ES44ACi 7531 loading an ore train in Casa de Pedra;

6) The empty ore surpasses the loaded one. We can see some piles of ore in the mountaisn in the background. Also, in right corner, we can see the cuts of Ferrovia do Aço - FA railroad, the main ore corridor of MRS railroad. Both tracks meets in Jeceaba, where the FA crosses over the Paraobeba Line by a hight viaduct.

 

Pedro Rezende
Vespasiano MG,
https://youtube.com/c/minasgeraisrailways1



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/25 14:17 by pedrop.

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7) I flew the drone 1km to watch the leading units of the train loading at Casa de Pedra. 

No video this time.

That´s all for now.

Pedro

Pedro Rezende
Vespasiano MG,
https://youtube.com/c/minasgeraisrailways1

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Looks like a beautiful winter day down there. I really like the last three drone shots.

Very interesting series and very nice pictures Pedro!

Larry

Thanks Larry!

Ritzville Wrote:
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> Very interesting series and very nice pictures
> Pedro!
>
> Larry

Posted from Android

Pedro Rezende
Vespasiano MG,
https://youtube.com/c/minasgeraisrailways1

Glad you had a successful trip.  Great photos.

The scale of that operation is mind-boggling.  Look at those bucket extractors / loaders for example.  It is probably an "environmental disaster," but at least they seem to be  proactive in protecting humans from known risks, such as mudslides, etc.  What a beautiful setting for an industry!

Do these mines benefit the nearby human populations much via employment, taxes, etc., or is it just another grab of local resources for the benefit of others?

Thanks for taking the time to explore that operation, Pedro.

Greg Stadter
Phoenix, AZ



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/25 06:09 by E25.

How many loaded and unloaded trains a day?

Yes, that is a huge mining area that provides a lot of employment to the cities nearby. Thousands of people work directly or not to the mining operations in Casa de Pedra and other mines in that area.
They take care of the enviroment as ruled by Brazilian laws. In some cities they do not have to pay taxes over properties, as an example of benefit they receive. Also, the CSN company collect a big amount of taxes to the local city governments.
I didn't send the drone to the pit since it is high in the mountain and far from the loading area where I was watching the trains.  I got these pics from the internet to show how big that mine is.

8 - 10) Casa de Pedra mine.

E25 Wrote:
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> The scale of that operation is mind-boggling. 
> Look at those bucket extractors / loaders for
> example.  It is probably an "environmental
> disaster," but at least they seem to be 
> proactive in protecting humans from known risks,
> such as mudslides, etc.  What a beautiful setting
> for an industry!
>
> Do these mines benefit the nearby human
> populations much via employment, taxes, etc., or
> is it just another grab of local resources for the
> benefit of others?
>
> Thanks for taking the time to explore that
> operation, Pedro.

Posted from Android

Pedro Rezende
Vespasiano MG,
https://youtube.com/c/minasgeraisrailways1



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/25 14:36 by pedrop.

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At Casa de Pedra siding they load five trains a day, but the ore from Casa de Pedra mine is sent to other two loading areas. So, from that mine we can have fifteen to twenty loaded trains a day.

There are many iron ore mines in that area, so we can watch many trains a day, one each 20 or 30 minutes. Most of the trains are empty ores or steel, but it has coal, cement and containers too. The loaded trains take another way down to the port in Rio de Janeiro.


11) A train of steel coils passing by Caetano Lopes yard,  near Casa de Pedra. This one was leaded by a couple of SD70LC, but I didn't have time to turn my cell phone on in time to register them.  They came too fast.

tomstp Wrote:
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> How many loaded and unloaded trains a day?

Pedro Rezende
Vespasiano MG,
https://youtube.com/c/minasgeraisrailways1



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/25 17:15 by pedrop.

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