Iron can be extracted from two types of iron ores: Magnetite and hematite. Magnetite is composed of iron in the form of Fe3O4. Hematite is a mineral that contains iron in the form of Fe2O3. The primary distinction between magnetite and hematite is that magnetite is ferromagnetic and hematite is paramagnetic..
Hematite and magnetite are the most important iron ores !
Which is the highest quality iron ore?
Magnetite is the finest ore among all the ores of Iron.
Magnetite ore comprises of seventy per cent of iron.
The magnetic properties in this ore are appreciable.
Fe3O4 is the chemical formula of magnetite ore.
Hematite ore is simply mined, crushed, and after that screened into either lump or fines. It is then immediately sold as such. The ore has high iron content, typically between 56% and 64% Fe.
Magnetite has higher iron content than hematite. But hematite ore usually contains large concentrations of hematite; magnetite ore, low concentrations of magnetite. The ore has lower iron content, typically between 25% and 40% Fe. This ore is unsuitable for steel making, and it must be concentrated before it can be used to produce steel. Magnetite ore’s magnetic properties are helpful during this process.
While magnetite ore requires more treatment than hematite ore, steel products made from magnetite ore are typically of higher quality than those from hematite ore. That is because magnetite ore has fewer impurities than hematite ore. To a certain extent, the higher cost of processing magnetite ore is balanced out.
Steel producers would like to buy the highest grade ore at the lowest price and not pay for transporting the ore to their mills. Since that is not possible, they have to settle for whatever makes the most economical sense for them.
Hematite availability
Hematite ore is found in abundance throughout the world, but it is mostly mined in Brazil, Australia and Asia.
Brazil is one of the world's major sources of ore. Its Carajas mine is the largest iron ore mine in existence, and is operated by Vale, a Brazilian mining company. Headquartered are in Rio de Janeiro, it is the third-largest mining company in the world and the biggest producer of iron ore pellets. Its primary iron ore assets are in the Iron Quadrangle region of Minas Gerais.
In Australia, hematite ore is the primary type of ore mined. Approximately 96 percent of its iron ore exports are high-grade hematite ore, and the majority of its reserves are located in the Hamersley province of Western Australia. The mountainous Hamersley Range is at the center of hematite ore mining and development because it sits on a banded iron formation.
In Asia, a great deal of hematite ore is mined in China. The best known reserve is the Dongye hematite deposit.
Magnetite availability
Magnetite ore is mined in the United States. A significant mining site in Michigan is the Marquette Range. This deposit was discovered in 1844, and ore was first mined there in 1848. The hard iron ore on this range consists of nearly pure masses of hematite and magnetite.
Magnetite with even less iron content (25% to 30%) are known as Taconite. These ores are mined at the Mesabi Range in Minnesota and the Labrador Trough in Eastern Canada.
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is a mining company that specializes in magnetite ore.
Hematite
Production and consumption
For a more comprehensive list, see list of countries by iron ore production.
Evolution of the extracted iron ore grade in Canada, China, Australia, Brazil, United States, Sweden, the Soviet Union and Russia, and the worldworld. The recent drop in world ore grade is due to significant consumption of low-grade Chinese ores. American ore, on the other hand, is typically upgraded between 61% and 64% before being sold.[19]
Usable iron ore production in million metric tons for 2015[20] The mine production estimates for China are estimated from the National Bureau of Statistics China's crude ore statistics, rather than usable ore as reported for the other countries.[21]
Country Production
- Australia 817,000,000 t (804,000,000 long tons; 901,000,000 short tons)
- Brazil 397,000,000 t (391,000,000 long tons; 438,000,000 short tons)
- China 375,000,000 t (369,000,000 long tons; 413,000,000 short tons)*
- India 156,000,000 t (154,000,000 long tons; 172,000,000 short tons)
- Russia 101,000,000 t (99,000,000 long tons; 111,000,000 short tons)
- South Africa 73,000,000 t (72,000,000 long tons; 80,000,000 short tons)
- Ukraine 67,000,000 t (66,000,000 long tons; 74,000,000 short tons)
- United States 46,000,000 t (45,000,000 long tons; 51,000,000 short tons)
- Canada 46,000,000 t (45,000,000 long tons; 51,000,000 short tons)
- Iran 27,000,000 t (27,000,000 long tons; 30,000,000 short tons)
- Sweden 25,000,000 t (25,000,000 long tons; 28,000,000 short tons)
- Kazakhstan 21,000,000 t (21,000,000 long tons; 23,000,000 short tons)
- Other countries 132,000,000 t (130,000,000 long tons; 146,000,000 short tons)
Total world 2,280,000,000 t (2.24×109 long tons; 2.51×109 short tons)
Iron is the world's most commonly used metal—steel, of which iron ore is the key ingredient, representing almost 95% of all metal used per year.[3] It is used primarily in structures, ships, automobiles, and machinery.
Iron-rich rocks are common worldwide, but ore-grade commercial mining operations are dominated by the countries listed in the table aside. The major constraint to economics for iron ore deposits is not necessarily the grade or size of the deposits, because it is not particularly hard to geologically prove enough tonnage of the rocks exist. The main constraint is the position of the iron ore relative to market, the cost of rail infrastructure to get it to market and the energy cost required to do so.
Mining iron ore is a high-volume, low-margin business, as the value of iron is significantly lower than base metals.[22] It is highly capital intensive, and requires significant investment in infrastructure such as rail in order to transport the ore from the mine to a freight ship.[22] For these reasons, iron ore production is concentrated in the hands of a few major players.
World production averages 2,000,000,000 t (2.0×109 long tons; 2.2×109 short tons) of raw ore annually. The world's largest producer of iron ore is the Brazilian mining corporation Vale, followed by Australian companies Rio Tinto Group and BHP. A further Australian supplier, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd, has helped bring Australia's production to first in the world.
The seaborne trade in iron ore—that is, iron ore to be shipped to other countries—was 849 t (836 long tons; 936 short tons) in 2004.[22] Australia and Brazil dominate the seaborne trade, with 72% of the market.[22] BHP, Rio and Vale control 66% of this market between them.[22]
In Australia, iron ore is won from three main sources: pisolite "channel iron deposit" ore derived by mechanical erosion of primary banded-iron formations and accumulated in alluvial channels such as at Pannawonica, Western Australia; and the dominant metasomatically-altered banded iron formation-related ores such as at Newman, the Chichester Range, the Hamersley Range and Koolyanobbing, Western Australia. Other types of ore are coming to the fore recently,[when?] such as oxidised ferruginous hardcaps, for instance laterite iron ore deposits near Lake Argyle in Western Australia.
The total recoverable reserves of iron ore in India are about 9,602 t (9,450 long tons; 10,584 short tons) of hematite and 3,408 t (3,354 long tons; 3,757 short tons) of magnetite.[23] Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Odisha, Goa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu are the principal Indian producers of iron ore. World consumption of iron ore grows 10% per annum[citation needed] on average with the main consumers being China, Japan, Korea, the United States, and the European Union.
China is currently the largest consumer of iron ore, which translates to be the world's largest steel producing country. It is also the largest importer, buying 52% of the seaborne trade in iron ore in 2004.[22] China is followed by Japan and Korea, which consume a significant amount of raw iron ore and metallurgical coal. In 2006, China produced 588 t (579 long tons; 648 short tons) of iron ore, with an annual growth of 38%. Iron ore market, Iron ore prices (monthly), China import/inbound iron ore spot price[24], Global iron ore price[25]
Iron ore prices (daily), 25 October 2010 - 4 August 2022.
Over the last 40 years, iron ore prices have been decided in closed-door negotiations between the small handful of miners and steelmakers which dominate both spot and contract markets. Traditionally, the first deal reached between these two groups sets a benchmark to be followed by the rest of the industry.[3]
In recent years, however, this benchmark system has begun to break down, with participants along both demand and supply chains calling for a shift to short term pricing. Given that most other commodities already have a mature market-based pricing system, it is natural for iron ore to follow suit. To answer increasing market demands for more transparent pricing, a number of financial exchanges and/or clearing houses around the world have offered iron ore swaps clearing. The CME group, SGX (Singapore Exchange), London Clearing House (LCH.Clearnet), NOS Group and ICEX (Indian Commodities Exchange) all offer cleared swaps based on The Steel Index's (TSI) iron ore transaction data. The CME also offers a Platts-based swap, in addition to their TSI swap clearing. The ICE (Intercontinental Exchange) offers a Platts-based swap clearing service also. The swaps market has grown quickly, with liquidity clustering around TSI's pricing.[26] By April 2011, over US$5.5 billion worth of iron ore swaps have been cleared basis TSI prices. By August 2012, in excess of one million tonnes of swaps trading per day was taking place regularly, basis TSI.
A relatively new development has also been the introduction of iron ore options, in addition to swaps. The CME group has been the venue most utilised for clearing of options written against TSI, with open interest at over 12,000 lots in August 2012.
Singapore Mercantile Exchange (SMX) has launched the world first global iron ore futures contract, based on the Metal Bulletin Iron Ore Index (MBIOI) which utilizes daily price data from a broad spectrum of industry participants and independent Chinese steel consultancy and data provider Shanghai Steelhome's widespread contact base of steel producers and iron ore traders across China.[27] The futures contract has seen monthly volumes over 1,500,000 t (1,500,000 long tons; 1,700,000 short tons) after eight months of trading.[28]
This move follows a switch to index-based quarterly pricing by the world's three largest iron ore miners—Vale, Rio Tinto and BHP—in early 2010, breaking a 40-year tradition of benchmark annual pricing.[29]