ESPINHAO MOUNTAINS

Portuguese Serra Do Espinhao, mountain range of Minas Gerais and Bahia states, eastern Brazil. Their peaks reach between 3,600 and 6,500 feet (1,100 and 2,000 m). With the Diamantina Upland of Bahia state; they form the divide between the tributaries of the So Francisco River and the streams that descend directly to the Atlantic on the east. Since the early 18th century the Espinhao Mountains have been mined for gold, diamonds, and semiprecious stones, but they are now economically important chiefly for their vast store of high-grade iron ore and manganese. The mountains are also the world's chief source of quartz crystals.