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The article focuses on Minas Gerais, which became the center of excellence for mining services and technology in the country. It says that state of Minas Gerais is the fourth largest state in Brazil that produces 48% of the nation's minerals output by value. It mentions that Tetra Tech Inc. entered the field of mining through the acquisition of Wardrop Engineering Inc. in 2009.

The article offers news briefs related to mining industry in Latin America in 2016. Luna Gold Corp. has reported the prefeasibility study results of a potential restart of Aurizona gold mine operations in northeast Brazil. Iamgold Corp. has signed an agreement with the Suriname government to acquire an interest in the property of Saramacca. Pan American Silver Corp. achieved significant project milestones at expansion projects at Dolores and La Colorada mines in Mexico.

The article reports on the partnership of Japanese and Korean companies to invest 1.95 billion dollar to acquire 15 percent of Cia Brasileira de Metalugia e Mineração (CBMM) in Brazil. It states that the companies, JFE Steel Corp., Nippon Steel Corp. and Sojitz Corp. have agreed for the investment to take part of the best niobium reserves in the country. The four companies from Japan will take 10 percent stake while the Korean firms will acquire five percent stake.

The article reports that Brazilian mining and metals company MMX is planning to increase production at its recently acquired iron ore miner AVG Mineracão SA in Brazil. Minas Gerais State-based AVG has capacity of some 2.5 million metric tons per year and has great potential to expand to some 8 million metric tons to 10 million metric tons per year. Information about the estimated capital expenditure for the entire project is presented. The author also discusses the benefits of the project for the company.

The article reports that mineral industry CVRD-Inco has allocated budget of about $6.334 billion for capital spending on organic growth and maintenance of existing operations during 2007. The budget is the largest capital expenditure budget in the company's history. The company made four acquisitions during 2006 at a total cost of $21.5 billion. The budget for maintaining existing CVRD operations during 2007 is at $1.698 billion. A partial list of major CVRD projects in the development stage in Brazil is also included.