THE ESTABLISHMENT of mineral extraction and mineral transformation industries in the Western Brazilian Amazon in the last five decades created recurrent and widespread expectations of a fast regional industrialization resulting from "comparative advantages" brought by the fulfillment of the world demand for mineral commodities. Mineral and metallurgic activities have proven nevertheless to have a very limited capacity to foster broad and socially rooted development dynamics. This phenomenon may be partially explained by the particular dynamics of technological innovation in those industries, by the institutional environment in which they are embedded and finally by the secondary role played by the social, cultural and ecological characteristics of the region in order to guarantee a competitive valorization of the mineral resources of the Western Amazon.
Amazonia; Mining; Metallurgy; Regional Development
