Here in the west we have been conditioned to covet industrialism and put industries like steel production on a pedestal as “providing good jobs” and “supporting our GNP” but how many of you have thought about where the Iron comes from that is fed into those steel foundries, plants and manufacturing facilities?

Below are some pictures of one of the largest iron mines on Earth. It was carved right into the bones of the earth after they drained and re-routed the rivers and clearcut a massive section of the Amazon Jungle.

The images below show The Carajás Mine in Brazil, operated by Vale, is the world's largest iron ore mine, situated on a 3,000-square-mile tract within the Amazon.

The mining corporation has displaced several groups of indigenous people (including the Awá (Guajá), Gavião (Parkatêjê/Akrãtikatêjê), Xikrin, Kayapó, and Guajajara among others) and destroyed multigenerational orchards that were tended by the locals (ancient food forests) so they could get at the iron.

983 square kilometers of rainforest were annihilated for the initial mine (flagship S11D project) construction phase by 2015, and studies show that now in 2026 mining-induced deforestation in the region (including railroads and massive tailing ponds/dams) is over ten thousand square kilometers. (approx. 4,500 sq miles).

The Vale mining company has sent out armed murder squads to assassinate tribal leaders that resist, contaminated rivers and killed all the fish, built massive toxic ore tailing dams which burst open killing over 300 villagers downstream and to date over ten percent of the Amazon has been decimated for mining operations.

The western Alphabet Corp manipulated internet searches will give you very little info on this as these transnational mining cartels have advanced psychological digital operations in place that scour and scrub the web and pump out endless greenwashed propaganda. You have to look at the smaller Spanish websites and hear form locals to start to get any clear picture of how devastating mines like this have been to the locals.

As I said in my note to Christian below, Amazonian people are not the only indigenous group being impacted by iron mining.

Iron mining is also poisoning the water, ripping apart the earth and displacing one of Europe’s last indigenous populations in Sweden (the Reindeer Herding Sami people, for more info read: gavinmounsey.substack.c… )

I shine a light on this so we can each take a moment to step back from the conditioning we have received in our lifetimes to seriously ask ourselves the question, is it worth it?

If this is what the perpetuation of industrial civilization costs, would we be willing to let our backyard become a scene like you see in the pictures below? And if not, how can we in good conscience, endorse the perpetuation of said industries which result in so many lives (human and non-human) and ecosystems being thrown under the bus in the name of “progress” ?