POCOS DE CALDAS

city, southern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. It lies along a stream called Poos de Caldas, near the Pardo River. Known principally for its thermal baths, the city has resort hotels and casinos. The local soils are rich in minerals and yield thorium, zirconium, and bauxite, which is converted into aluminum there. The city has Brazil's first uranium-ore concentration plant, for use in the Angra I nuclear-power facility in Angra dos Reis. Poos de Caldas is accessible by air from So Paulo, Belo Horizonte, and other cities. Pop. (1980 prelim.) 81,448.