Abstract
The main theme of our work is an investigation of the main constituents of iron – its physical properties, geological occurrence. The work also describes the usage of the mineral in different industries and its current price. The purpose of that investigation is to enlarge our knowledge about one of the most common and most important minerals of our planet. The results of the investigations prove the importance of this mineral resource in the modern world by showing us its wide range of usage.
Properties
- Description: “iron is a lustrous, ductile, malleable, silver-gray metal” (Anonymous, n. d.a para. 1). Pure iron is rather crunchy. Its melting temperature is 1811 °K (or 1538 °C (2800 °F)) (Anonymous, n. db.). Iron is a very good electric conductor. These properties mean that iron can be widely used in industry due to its physical properties. High melting temperature determines the usage under extreme conditions and high conductivity – in electronics.
- Radioactive: the mineral is not radioactive, which means that naturally occurred iron is not dangerous for human health and could be used in the industry.
- Price: the price for the mineral is not high. The native iron and the iron ore should be distinguished. The price per 1 metric ton is 82.38 USD (Anonymous, 2014). This equals to 93.92 Canadian dollars. The price of the steel, which includes iron in its composition, differs from the steel grade.
Occurrence
- Geological Occurrence: Iron (Fe) is one of the most widespread elements, composing about 5% of the earth shell (Anonymous, 2012).Though, native iron can be very rarely found because of its tendency to oxidize, forming an iron oxide “the reds, oranges and yellows seen in some soils and on rocks are probably iron oxides” (Anonymous 2013, para. 2). These oxides are known as iron ores. The most widespread ores are hematite, siderite, magnetite and limonite. In his state the iron cannot be used for industrial purposes, that is why it is necessary to extract it from the ore. The current production process needs a lot of equipment (Everett 2010b). The extraction process consists from several stages. The main stage is heating of the iron ore in the blast furnace, removing the oxygen from the oxide. The resulting iron is called pig iron and it is still not pure, thought the purification process is needed.
- Main occurrences world-wide: The worlds total shown resources of iron ore counts160 billions of tons, in the percent composition the 18% of the worlds supply can be found in Russia and Brazil, which have the world’s biggest amounts of iron ore..Then comes Australia with the 14% of the worlds supply, though contributing 20% of all worlds iron ore production (Everett, 2010a).
- Occurrence in Canada: Canada has the great deposits of iron ore, which are the biggest in the North America. They are concentrated within the Canadian Shield, Labrador Peninsular, and Canadian Cordillera. Newfoundland ore deposit is one of the biggest in Canada, hematite composes 60% of it, and the metal mining takes place in the depth of 600metres in the Wabana ore deposit. The deposit near the Labrador-city is also characterized by the great amount of hematite (Miron & Boyd, 2013).
- Global Annual Production: In the year 2013 there were produced the 2,950,000 tons of iron ore. The main world producer is China, with 1,320,000 of tons. Then goes Australia with 530,000, Brazil with 398,000 and India with 150,000 of tons of iron ore (Anonymous 2013).
- Canadian Production: There are big iron producers in Newfoundland, Québec and BC, producing altogether 35 million tons of iron ore per year (Miron & Boyd, 2013). The main iron ore producers, such as Labrador Iron Mines, are situated in the regions with the great iron ore deposits (Sandlos & Keeling, 2014).
Uses
- Industrial: The great number of different ways of its usage exists. However, the main use of iron ore is for making steel. Steel is one of the most frequently used metal in the world. It is used about twenty times more often than any other metal (Anonymous, 2012). There is no substitute for steel in the modern industry that is why iron ore obtains a strategic character. Varying the percentage-based cost relationship of iron ore and carbon in the alloys composition, it is possible to produce different steel grades. Due to its properties steel gets a unique place in modern industry. It is not very expensive, at the same time having all the necessary characteristics and properties to fulfill the demands of different branches of the industry. Steel is used in transportation, machine building industries, in the toys or containers production, decorating and fashion.
- Medical and Food: Iron is an important constituent of the human body. Almost each part of it, like liver, muscles, contains iron. In the organism it is carried with the help of blood, delivered to the each part of the body supplying it with essential minerals.
One of the important uses of the iron containing remedies is the treatment of anemia (Ehrlich, 2011). However, iron is the important part of the great number of different pills, vitamin tablets, the person should take if he is lack of some useful elements. It is also the essential part of the mans diet as a person should take it with the food in order his body to function well. Scientists distinguish two different forms of iron in nourishment – heme and nonheme (Zelman, 2014). The heme sources are very important as they contain iron.
References
Anonymous, n.d.a. Iron – Fe. 2014. Web.
Anonymous, 2013. Iron. 2014. Web.
Anonymous, 2012. Iron. Fact Sheet. 2014. Web.
Anonymous, 2014. Iron Ore Spot Price. 2014. Web.
Anonymous, n. d.b. Iron. Physical Properties. 2014. Web.
Ehrlich, D. S., 2011. Iron. 2014. Web.
Everett, E.J.,2010a. Planning an Iron Ore Mine: From Exploration Data to Informed Mining Decisions. Interdisciplinary Journal of Information, Knowledge and Management, V. 5. n.pag.
Everett, E.J., 2010b. Simulation Modeling of an Iron Ore Operation to Enable Informed Planning. Interdisciplinary Journal of Information, Knowledge and Management, V. 5. n. pag.
Miron. M., Boyd, B.W., 2013. Iron Ore. 2014. Web.
Sandlos, J., Keeling, A. 2014. Mining. Web.
Zelman, K.M., 2014. Iron-Rich Foods. Web.