The Brazilian state-owned enterprise Vale opens the Carajás Mine in the state of Pará, developing the world's largest reserve of high-grade iron ore. Carried out under the military dictatorship's 'Grande Carajás' program, this massive infrastructure project cuts deep into the Amazon rainforest, constructing a massive open-pit mining complex, a dedicated 890-kilometer railway, and deep-water ports. This resource boom makes Brazil a top global metal exporter but causes widespread deforestation and severely impacts indigenous territories, drawing intense international environmental criticism.

The industrial penetration of the Amazon rainforest by the Carajás complex inspires a strong body of Brazilian ecological and social poetry. Amazonian poets write raw, critical verses that condemn the clear-cutting of the jungle, the roar of the iron ore trains, and the violence of the frontier resource economy. Their work turns the Carajás mine into a major symbol for the loss of indigenous heritage and the destructive appetites of global heavy industry.