As Malsucedidas Buscas De Minerais Em Minas Gerais

Abstract

THE UNSUCCESSFUL MINERALS SEARCH IN MINAS GERAIS. After extracting practically all the gold and diamonds from the captaincy of Minas Gerais, Brazilian and foreign politicians and naturalists were looking for new sources of wealth in the form of ores. However, the news of the discovery of copper and cobalt mineral deposits, made by José Vieira Couto (a naturalist from the city of Diamantina), were discredited because the locations indicated or even the analysis performed may have been done incorrectly or even intentionally altered by the naturalist in order to draw the attention of the Portuguese Crown or seeking ways of obtaining social and political promotion among the colony’s governors.