World iron ore

Other countries that have large iron ore deposits include Brazil (Carajas and Quaddlatero Ferrifero deposits), AustraUa (Pilbara deposits), Ukraine (Krivi Rog deposit), Russia (Kursk deposit), Venezuela (Cerro BoHvar deposit), India (Bihar-Orissa, Hospet, Kudremukh, and Goa deposits). South Africa (Sishen and Thabazimbi deposits), and Sweden (Kimna, Svappavaara, and Malmberget deposits). A Hst of world iron ore production and reserves in 1992 by country is shown in Table 3. 

Annual world iron ore production has hovered around 9 to 9.75 x 10 t since the mid-1980s. International trade of iron ore peaked in 1980 at 4.24 X 10 t otherwise it has remained fairly steady in the range of3.6to4x 10 t/yr per year since the mid-1980s. The main exporting countries are Brazil, AustraUa, India, Canada, South Africa, Russia, Ukraine, and Venezuela. 

Today, after the exhaustion of most premium ore deposits, the banded iron formations are by far the world s richest source of low-grade iron ore. According to the US Geological Survey, world iron-ore resources still exceed 800 billion tons of crude ore, containing more than 230 billion tons of iron, much of which comes from Australia, Brazil and China. Of this total, at least 640 billion tons were laid down between 2.6 and 1.8 billion years ago. The Hamersley formation alone contains 20 billion tons of iron ore, with 55 per cent iron content. 

W. Pietsch and W. Schiitze, HBI - A safe DRI-based source of iron units . Paper at World Iron Ore 95, Orlando, FL (1996), Skillings Mining Review 86 (1997)18, 4-9. 

FeOOH) and, in some places, siderite (FeCOj) are the most common varieties. World iron ore production is about 870 x 10 tons (approximately 29% in the former Soviet Union, 15% in Brasilia, 11% each in China and Australia, and 10% in North America). Deposits in emiched weathering zones are preferentially exploited. The ores are crushed and concentrated to have an iron content of 60% by milling and sintering before shipment to the ironworks (which are frequently overseas). This pro-... 

The most common method of converting iron ore to metallic iron utilizes a blast furnace wherein the material is melted to form hot metal (pig iron). Approximately 96% of the world s iron is produced this way (see Iron). However, in the blast furnace process energy costs are relatively high, pollution problems of associated equipment are quite severe, and capital investment requirements are often prohibitively expensive. In comparison to the blast furnace method, direct reduction permits a wider choice of fuels, is environmentally clean, and requires a much lower capital investment. 

Bastnasite has been identified in various locations on several continents. The largest recognized deposit occurs mixed with monazite and iron ores in a complex mineralization at Baiyunebo in Inner MongoHa, China. The mineral is obtained as a by-product of the iron ore mining. The other commercially viable bastnasite source is the Mountain Pass, California deposit where the average Ln oxide content of the ore is ca 9%. This U.S. deposit is the only resource in the world that is minded solely for its content of cerium and other lanthanides. 

Fig. 1. World production trends in steelmaking raw materials where (—) represents iron ore production ( ...

World trade in coal totaled 576 million tons (524 million tonnes) in 1998, of which 523 million tons (476 million tonnes) shipped in oceangoing vessels. Coal shipments use the same dry bulk vessels that transport other bulk commodities, such as iron ore and bauxite, so vessel rates for coal shipments arc hostage to wider market forces. However, the cyclic pattern observable in vessel rates disguises the long-term trend in which rates have varied little in nominal terms. For example, spot vessel coal rates in the 1998-1999 time period were about the same as in the mid-1980s, varying between 5 and 10 per ton. 

Iron ore production for the iron and steel industry accounts for more than 99% of the total iron mined. At present, the largest iron ore mine in the world is Mount Whaleback in the Pilbara district of Western Australia. Most of the ore there is in the form of banded iron formations (BIF) and consists of hematite and goethite. 

Sedimentary iron ores worth mining comprise about 80% of the world s Fe-ore production and ca 90% of the world s reserves. To be of value, ores should contain at least 0.6 g g Fe, preferably in the form of Fe oxides. Because hematite and magnetite contain more Fe per unit weight than goethite, ores in which the two former oxides predominate, are preferred. Table 15.3 summarizes the main characteristics of sedimentary iron ores. 

Some Famous Iron Mines. The Cerro de Mercado in Durango, north central Mexico, one of the largest iron ore deposits in the world, was discovered by Gines V squez de Mercado in 1552 (108). 

The first SMS system was established for the Kaiser Steel iron ore operation at Eagle Mountain, California. The first SMS system outside North America was established in early 1965 at Phalaborwa, Sorth Africa, for the Palabora Mining Company. Shortly thereafter the SMS system was established in rapid succession for mining operations throughout the world... 

Iron (III) oxide exists in mineral form as hematite. It is 70% iron and is the primary source of iron ore in the world. About 90% of the iron mined in the United States is hematite. World production of this ore is more than 1 billion tons. Magnetite and taconite are two other primary iron oxide minerals used as iron ore. The name hematite comes from the blood-red color of powdered hematite. The Greek word hematite means blood-like. Some ancients held the belief that hematite was formed in areas where batdes were fought and blood was spilled into the earth. Large deposits of hematite have been identified on Mars. 

A most valuable addition to our knowledge of the iron ores of the Northern and North Midland Counties of England has been recently given to the world, in the Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, These are to be further extended, and the completion... 

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