Mineralogistas e seus estudos sobre os minerais úteis nas Minas Gerais dos períodos colonial e imperial
| Ano de defesa: | 2019 |
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| Autor(a) principal: | |
| Orientador(a): | |
| Banca de defesa: | |
| Tipo de documento: | Tese |
| Tipo de acesso: | Acesso aberto |
| Idioma: | por |
| Instituição de defesa: |
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
UFMG |
| Programa de Pós-Graduação: |
Não Informado pela instituição
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| Departamento: |
Não Informado pela instituição
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| País: |
Não Informado pela instituição
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| Palavras-chave em Português: | |
| Link de acesso: | http://hdl.handle.net/1843/SFSA-BAHUCK |
Resumo: | The Province of Minas Gerais and several of its cities have had in their history a strong connection with the emergence of scientific discoveries, particularly those linked with mineral studies and extraction. This thesis will demonstrate how the sertões (hinterland) played a crucial role in the search for minerals that could offer a viable economic alternativein the late eighteenth century when the extraction of gold and diamonds were no longer profitable. Even before the depletion of those precious minerals, saltpeter seemed to be one of the most interesting replacements for commercial exploitation since the abundanceof possible nitrate deposits, the limestone caves, promised to be an almost inexhaustible source of nitrates, which were needed in the manufacture of gunpowder as well as in metal purification and in traditional medicine. It is noteworthy that this production, contrary to whathad occurred during the time of the gold and diamond mining, did not flow to the coast of Rio de Janeiro. Saltpeter was first produced in the interior of Bahia and in the north of Minas Gerais. As a consequence its natural destination was the port city of Salvador until the opening of the Fábrica de Pólvora da Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas in Rio de Janeiro. Thisfactory came about after the transfer of the Portuguese court to Rio and the consequent elevation of that city to capital of the Portuguese empire. These important moves also caused the arrival of several foreign mineralogists and metallurgists, such as the German Baron Eschwege and a few years later of the famed Brazilian scientist José Bonifácio deAndrada e Silva. Men such as these were responsible for the initiation of a process of prospection and mining in Minas Gerais. Eschwege, for example, followed on the steps of the Brazilian mineralogist José Vieira Couto, thus being able to open new roadways, define boundaries and explore the occurrence of lead ore (galena, or lead sulfide) in the sertões of the River Abaeté. At the same time, Eschwege also founded and operated for many years an iron factory, the Fabrica Patriótica, in Congonhas do Campo. After spending little more than a decade on his many enterprises, Eschwege left Brazil and returned to Europe.Another European, the Frenchman Jean Monlevade, followed on his steps and became the first metallurgist to obtain lead metal from the galena ore, and also silver (as a byproduct) after cupelation of the lead in Vila Rica. Another attempt to obtain lead and silver from galena also took place later, led by the Brazilian Francisco de Paula Oliveira. The discoveryof an additional precious metal, palladium, is also related to Brazil. Palladium was discovered by the English chemist and metallurgist William H. Wollaston, by the purification of minerals brought from the Spanish colonies in South America, notably Nueva Granada,todays Colombia. However, the confirmation of the occurrence of palladium metal in native form was produced from a sample taken to England from Brazil. The discovery of palladium did not occur earlier due to the frequent confusion caused by the lack of familiarity of thebandeirantes, who explored the Brazilian sertões and believed to be in the presence of silver or even platinum, whenever they came across metals of a white color which might contaminate samples of gold, imparting to them a whitish tinge, in different degrees and coloration. Finally, not all reports of what existed in the backlands of Minas Gerais proved to be trustworthy. There was also plenty of quackery as well as inadequate chemical analyses performed by several mineralogists. This can be shown by the announcement in the nineteenth century of the discovery of copper, cobalt and tin, when these consisted of nomore than a few veins, which could only supply small quantities in very limited proportions or even feed the self-promotion of some individuals. |