Hobbies And Interests
Color
The color of rocks and minerals that contain iron ore can vary. Iron itself is a dark, silver-gray color. However, when found in other rocks in minerals, the formation can be blue, yellow, pink, gray or even black. Because of this, different kinds of iron ore are used in coloring consumer products such as plastics, paints, and even cosmetic products such as eye-shadow.
Mining
Iron ore is mined throughout the world, in countries including China, Russia and India. Australia and Brazil are the two largest exporters of iron ore, each with a third of world exports. Iron ore is mined in these countries through commercial mining sites, being extracted through drilling; most of the recovered iron ore is used in the production of steel.
Iron and its Forms
Iron ore is so-named because of the iron --- known by its elemental code "Fe" --- which is found inside the rock or mineral. Iron is a metallic element. It is found in the Earth's crust, accounting for approximately 5 percent of that geological structure. Iron rusts easily, since it is a highly reactive substance. When iron "oxidizes" --- another word for "rusts" --- it turns a red, orange, or yellow color and is known as "iron oxide." Sometimes iron is also found fused with the substance nickel, in which case it is know as an iron-nickel alloy. Iron is naturally the most magnetic element, meaning that --- along with other two elements, cobalt and nickel --- it is magnetic in its found-form.
Types of Iron Ore
There are several types of rocks and minerals in which iron is found. The most common types of ore in which iron is found are hematite, which is 70 percent iron and magnetite, which is 72 percent iron. These are considered "high-grade" iron ores, since each has a high concentration of iron. Other iron ores are "low-grade" and feature a smaller concentration. One such type of low-grade iron ore is taconite, which contains only up to 30 percent.