The Abaeté River is a river of Minas Gerais

Minas Gerais

Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

 state in southeastern Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. Its origin is in the Serra da Canastra, about 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) north of São Gotardo

São Gotardo

São Gotardo is a Brazilian municipality located in the northwest of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 30,757 people and its land area is 854 km2. The city belongs to the mesoregion of Triângulo Mineiro e Alto Paranaíba and to the microregion of Patos de Minas...

 and it passes through São Gonçalo do Abaeté

São Gonçalo do Abaeté

São Gonçalo do Abaeté is a municipality in the north of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Its population in 2007 was 6,156 inhabitants in a total area of 2,687 km². It is a large producer of cattle and grains....

. The river runs nearly north and empties into the São Francisco River

São Francisco River

The São Francisco is a river in Brazil. With a length of , it is the longest river that runs entirely in Brazilian territory, and the fourth longest in South America and overall in Brazil...

, the confluence being located at 18°2′15"S 45°11′14"W. The Pontal area at the Abaeté River mouth is an important spawning site for fish.

Geography

The Abaeté flows for 270 kilometres (167.8 mi) and its width varies between 200 ft (61 m) to 500 ft (152.4 m). It is a rock-bottomed highland river, containing clay sediments.

Geology

Noted for its diamond mines, diamonds were first discovered in the river during the period of 1780-85. Several of the largest diamonds found in Brazil originated here, though medium or low quality stones are more common. A diamond, known as the Abaeté brilliant, was discovered in the river in 1791 whilst a group of men were searching for gold.

In addition to garnets, gold, iridium, jaspers, osmium, and platinum, the gravel contains 30 other minerals. The palladium

Palladium

Palladium is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pd and an atomic number of 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself named after the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, acquired...

-free platinum

Platinum

Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...

 found in the Abaeté River is strongly magnetic

Magnetism

Magnetism is a property of materials that respond at an atomic or subatomic level to an applied magnetic field. Ferromagnetism is the strongest and most familiar type of magnetism. It is responsible for the behavior of permanent magnets, which produce their own persistent magnetic fields, as well...

 and rich in iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

.

Dam

South of the confluence of the river, along the São Francisco River, is the Três Marias Dam

Três Marias Dam

The Três Marias Dam, also known as Bernardo Mascarenhas, is an embankment dam on the São Francisco River near Três Marias in Minas Gerais, Brazil. It was constructed for hydroelectric power production and flood control. The dam was completed in 1961 and its first generator was operational in 1962...

, (Três Marias is a popular legend linked with the river and three sisters) named after Bernard Mascarenhas who had built South America's first major hydroelectric power plant

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...

 in Brazil, the Marmelos Zero Power Plant

Marmelos Zero Power Plant

The Marmelos Zero Power Plant is a decommissioned hydroelectric power plant on the Paraibuna River in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Inaugurated in 1889, plant was the first major hydroelectric power plant constructed in South America, specifically for public use. It was purchased by CEMIG in...

 in 1889. It is one of the largest earth dams in the world for developed for deriving multipurpose benefits. The project envisaged control of the flow of the river through flood storage, improving its navigability, providng irrigation, generating hydroelectric power to supply for the development of industry and other uses. Begun in 1957, the dam was completed in January 1961 while the first units of the power station was commissioned in 1962; the balance five units of the power station were commissioned by end of 1979. Its construction is considered a world record in this type of construction employing 10,000 people working during the peak of construction activity.

The dam is 2700 metres (8,858.3 ft) long with a base of 600 feet (182.9 m) and a height of 75 metres (246.1 ft). The hydroelectric power station has an installed capacity of 396 MW (six units of 64.6 MW capacity each). The reservoir or the lake formed by the dam, known as the "Sweet Sea of Minas", has 21 billion cubic meters of water, a surface area of 1040 square kilometre(8.7 times greater than Guanabara Bay

Guanabara Bay

Guanabara Bay is an oceanic bay located in southeastern Brazil in the state of Rio de Janeiro. On its western shore lies the city of Rio de Janeiro, and on its eastern shore the cities of Niterói and São Gonçalo. Four other municipalities surround the bay's shores...

), and provides water to 8 municipalities

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

; one of the many islands formed in the lake is an ecological station

Ecological station

According to the National System of Conservation Units in Brazil an ecological station is an area set up for environmental protection .The stations have been active in the country particularly as a result of the widespread threats to biodiversity and forest caused by Deforestation in Brazil...

; the Estação Ecologica de Pirapitinga

Pirapitinga Ecological Station

Pirapitinga Ecological Station is an ecological station in Brazil, on an island in the lake formed by the dam in Três Marias, Minas Gerais....

.