What is Iron Ore?
Elemental Iron (Fe) is ranked fourth in abundance in the earth’s crust and is the major constituent of the Earth’s core. Metallic Iron is most commonly produced from the smelting of iron ore to produce pig iron. Iron ore is in the form of rock and vary in color from dark grey to rusty red and is usually found in the form of magnetite (Fe3O4), hematite (Fe2O3) which is also called “natural ore”, limonite or siderite. Siderite is a mineral composed of Iron carbonate FeCO3. It is a valuable iron mineral, since it is 48% iron and contains no sulfur or phosphorus (two of the worst contaminants in iron ore). Pyrite (FeS) is another compound that is used for extracting Fe element Low-grade ore is a term applied to iron-rich rocks with cut-off grades in the range of 25-30% Fe. It was the main supply of iron ore for many centuries of the World’s early history of production of iron. Since the 1950’s North America’s main supply has been low-grade ore. Examples of low grade ore are limenite(FeTiO3
Iron ore is any rock or mineral from which iron can economically be extracted. Iron ore comes in a variety of colors, including dark gray, bright yellow, deep purple, and rusty red. The iron comes in the form of iron oxides such as magnetite, hematite, limonite, goethite, or siderite. Economically viable forms of iron ore contain between 25% and 60% iron. In the old days of mining, some ores had 66% iron and could be fed into iron-making blast furnaces directly. These were known as “natural ores.
