Vale's use of hydroelectric dams to power mining dates back almost 30 years to 1984, when the 256-foot high Tucuruí Dam (4000 MW) began operation, powering an explosion of iron ore extraction at the Carajás mines, and putting Brazil on the map in the global minerals trade. The Tucuruí Dam created the 72-meter deep Lago Tucuruí reservoir, which flooded 2,850 square kilometers. The reservoir displaced 35,000 people, flooded 38,700 hectares of the Parakanã Indigenous Reserve, and led to the removal and relocation of the Eastern Parakanã, a tribe that had been contacted only a decade earlier. Construction of the Tucuruí Dam attracted thousands of migrants to the area, which increased incidences of malaria and HIV. A full 20,000 workers were laid off after the completion of Phase I of Tucuruí’s construction, and by 1985, the Carajás mines had already produced 1 million tons of iron ore using Tucuruí’s electricity. By 1987, powered by Tucuruí Dam, the Carajás mines were producing 13.5 million tons of iron ore per year.

In 1998, Phase II of the Tucuruí Dam began when Eletrobrás added eleven 375 MW Francis turbine generators, bringing Tucuruí's total installed capacity to 8370 MW. As a result, by 2006, the Carajás mine produced 81.7 million tons of iron ore per year, and in 2009, that number reached 90 million tons of iron ore per year. What worries technical experts and civil society alike is that the Belo Monte Dam may follow the same progression as Tucuruí: what began as one hydropower project may become a larger, more harmful project years down the road.

If the electricity from mega-dams like Belo Monte and the Tapajós Complex comes on line, Vale – and also its competitors Alcoa, Gerdau, ArcelorMirral, Mineração do Rio Norte, AngloAmerican, and Colossus -- would be able to extract and refine unprecedented amounts of minerals from the soils of the Amazon. Mining would proliferate, and the Amazon could look more like the Alberta tar sands than a forest sea of green.

Having Vale in the Belo Monte Dam is a way for the government to make sure that Vale's profits from Chinese commodity purchases flow more easily into Treasury coffers. Treasury capitalizations to the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) have allowed BNDES to disburse record amounts to Brazilian industries, eclipsing the amount lent by multiateral development banks in the region. BNDES has disbursed $300 billion reais since 2008, including $20 billion reais for the Madeira Dam Complex, and an expected $25 billion reais or more for the Belo Monte Dam Complex.

Why is greater government control of Vale a problem? Environmentally and socially, the sheer size of the mining operations planned for the Amazon should scare anyone, whether a company like Vale is private or state-owned. Mining is one of the dirtiest industrial activities on the planet, due to both its immediate environmental impacts and its CO2 emissions. Also, mining enclaves often lead to poverty and social conflict, rather than improved livelihoods and development benefits.

With Vale in Belo Monte and the government taking greater control of the mining sector, it looks like the Amazon will turn increasingly into a hotbed for dirty mining. For centuries, citizens of the Brazilian Amazon have asked when their lands will be worth something greater than the resources extracted from them. With Vale now in Belo Monte, it doesn't look like they'll be getting an answer any time soon.