Book Launch and soirée of autographs of the book:
MINERALS & PRECIOUS STONES OF BRAZIL
Authors: Carlos Cornejo & Andrea Bartorelli
Friday, May 28, 2010 from 6:30 to 9:30 pm at Livraria Cultura - Conjunto Nacional,
térreo, Avenida Paulista, 2.073 - São Paulo - SP. Phone (55-11) 3170-4033
INFORMATION:
Silvia Rita dos Santos
Solaris Edições Culturais
Rua Tavares Bastos, 205 – Perdizes – São Paulo – SP – Brasil – CEP 05012-020
Phones (55-11) 3675-0307 / 3675-6396 – Cell. Phone (55-11) 8686-8331
solarised@terra.com.br
THE AUTHORS:
Carlos Cornejo: Cell. phone (55-11) 8259-9411, Phone (55-11) 3675-0307.
Andrea Bartorelli: Phone (55-11) 3814-9169.
The book Minerals & Precious Stones of Brazil is unique in its kind and
was afforded with the sponsorship of Vale by means of the Federal Law of
Cultural Incentive. It presents a vast historical and iconographic
panorama of the national production of minerals and precious stones,
with chapters dedicated to Indian lithic art of Brazil, the beginning of
mineralogy in the Country recorded by European travelers, naturalists
and mineralogists, as well as cabinets of curiosities, mineralogical
museums, private collections and collections of the Court of the
Imperial Family, emphasizing the Museu Nacional, the Museu Ciências da
Terra, the Museu de Ciência e Técnica of the Escola de Minas of Ouro
Preto and the Museu de Geociências of the Universidade of São Paulo.
Still regarding the historical aspect, the
work broaches the description of new minerals in Brazil and the gold and
diamond cycles, with pictures of great interest drawn by travelers, as
well as splendid sceneries during the gold rush of Serra Pelada in
recent decades, registering for the first time in a book the biggest
gold nuggets still preserved in the World, which belong to the
collection of the Museu de Valores of the Banco Central, in Brasilia.
The book depicts some of the most
beautiful, amazing and valuable brazilian specimens of emerald,
aquamarine, heliodore, morganite, tourmaline, garnet, topaz, euclase,
amethyst and diamond, many of them unique and that render Brazil one of
the World’s major producers of gems.
According to Luiz Alberto Dias Menezes
Filho, in the foreword of the book: This book describes Brazilian
minerals, masterpieces of nature, which endowed our subsoil with
incomparable wealth of variety and quality. The authors opted to place
emphasis on the history of mineralogy in Brazil, closely linked with the
history of Brazilian mining, which has been characterized by a series of
superlatives: Brazil was leading world producer of gold and of diamonds
between the mid-18th century and the mid-19th century. At the present
time, it is the leading world producer of iron ore, tin and niobium, and
an important producer of manganese, aluminum, silicon, tantalum, rare
earths, graphite, magnesite and countless other ores. In the field of
collection and gemological minerals, Brazil is the leading world
producer of tourmaline (of all colors), of quartz (colorless, rutilated,
amethyst and agate), of beryl (aquamarine, morganite and heliodore, and
the second ranking world producer of emerald), of topaz (imperial, blue
and colorless), alexandrite, euclase, phenakite and many others.
On behalf of Brazilian mineral collectors, who contributed most of the
photos, I would like to thank the company VALE for the pioneer and
notable initiative of sponsoring the publication of this book, which
should contribute to portray the extremely rich history of Brazilian
mining, with an emphasis on small pegmatite mining ventures, factories
of dreams and of illusions, which do not only provide conditions for
subsistence and progress in some of the poorest regions of Brazil, but
also enabled the recovery of these spectacular minerals, generating
important funds for the Nation, as well as extremely valuable scientific
knowledge. On the other hand, we emphasize that the vast majority of
those samples were produced at small claims, and only a small part came
from industrial mining ventures (such as red scheelite, pink apatite,
siderite, dolomite and the quartz from the Mina de Morro Velho; and
uvite, the twinned “Japan law” quartz, hematite, magnesite, dolomite,
nováèekite and metazeunerite from the mines of Brumado, among others),
where they were probably collected by mine employees. If this had not
happened, these spectacular samples, of immense scientific and
commercial value, would have been crushed and milled. Hence we would
like to take the opportunity to suggest that mining companies and their
technical staffs consider the possibility of introducing a methodology
for the collection and preservation of mineral samples at their mines,
or that they outsource this collection. This is accomplished
successfully in mining ventures in other parts of the world, without
prejudice to the normal operation of the mines, allowing the recovery of
an extremely important scientific legacy, and also even generating a
financial return for companies.
This book formed gradually like a crystal,
incorporating, page by page, extraordinary mineral treasures and true
masterpieces of Nature. To produce this paper museum, we went around
mines and garimpos, visited museums and libraries, and came into contact
with collectors, scientists, miners and garimpeiros. Brazil is one of
the greatest producers of minerals of economic importance,
precious stones and mineralogical collection specimens in the world,
which explains the relevance of a publication that describes the amazing
wealth of the
mineral kingdom in the country.
We wished to highlight lithic art and the use of minerals by indigenous
peoples, the history of great discoveries of noble metals and gemstone
minerals, and the excellent, sometimes unique specimens, that exist in
museums and private collections. All illustrated with refined
photographic technique, justifying the publication of a book that
reunites images of the marvels that have already been found in Brazilian
subsoil, faithfully reproducing their habits, crystallization, color and
luster, besides focusing on aspects of their extraction, with abundant
documentation portraying the landscape and the people from the back
country of Brazil, from the gold claims of the Amazon, passing through
the diamondiferous and precious stone producing regions of the Northeast
and Southeast, to the agate and amethyst claims of the tablelands of Rio
Grande do Sul. The book covers aspects related essentially to mineral
production and dates back to colonial times, gathering reports from
travelers and naturalists, besides reproductions of prints produced by
notable illustrators, with important historical images forming part of
this documentation.We emphasize that the book also addresses minerals as
subjects of cultural interest, instilling in readers the perception of
precious stones and minerals as natural aesthetic products, to be
protected so that future generations can contemplate this irreplaceable
legacy of Nature.
I am immensely grateful to everyone that helped in the creation of this
work, placing their collections of minerals, documents and photographs
at our disposal, or sharing their experiences and knowledge. I am also
grateful to those that, to dig up the treasures of the generous Mother
Earth, lead a life of adventures and sacrifices at mines, claims and
garimpos. I also pay tribute to my mother, María del Rosario Chacón
Yensen, deceased while I was writing the book, who not only gave me
life, but communicated her enthusiasm for life to me.
Finally, I wish to thank VALE for its valuable support that made this
book possible.
In the start of the editorial project of
this book we were surprised by the enthusiastic support of friends,
collectors, scholars, technicians, miners, prospectors, claim owners and
museums, which ceaselessly flowed in with specimens, photographs,
documents, texts, suggestions, corrections. They kindly put at our
disposition their collections, showcases and safes, making them
available to be photographed and documented with all the dedication they
required. Their contributions were such that the book grew bulkier in an
unexpected manner. The minerals are reproduced in the photographs as
they were found in Nature, having not been submitted to any process of
cutting or polishing, except in the case of agates and cut stones. We
have also reunited the history of emerald, gold and diamond cycles, as
well as accounts of the great discoveries or bamburros and their
protagonists, besides reports on modern mineral discoveries, such as
that of the iron of Serra dos Carajás. One of the most highly esteemed
Brazilians dedicated to mineralogy was José Bonifácio de Andrada e
Silva, the Patriarch of Independence and the greatest mineralogist and
collector of Brazil of his time. Members of the Imperial Family also
dedicated to interesting collections, such as the Empress Leopoldina,
the Emperor Dom Pedro II and specially Prince Dom Pedro Augusto de
Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha e Bragança. With this publication we hope to
instill the appreciation and the preservation of specimens of the
various mineral species, a unique and rare legacy, comparable to the
most valuable art masterpieces. If this book awakens interest in
Brazil’s precious and amazing mineralogical and cultural heritage, it
will justify the efforts of all those who collaborated with us for its
achievement, an enjoyable task that provided us with the opportunity to
come into contact with all the people passionate about the wonderful
mineral world.
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