How is iron mined?

How to extract iron for children

The first iron known to mankind was of cosmic origin, or, more precisely, meteorite. It began to be used as an instrumental material approximately 4 thousand years BC. The technology of metal smelting appeared several times and was lost as a result of wars and unrest, but, according to historians, the Hittites were the first to master smelting.

It is worth noting that we are talking about iron alloys with a small amount of impurities. It became possible to obtain chemically pure metal only with the advent of modern technologies. This article will tell you in detail about the features of metal production by direct reduction, flash, sponge, raw material, hot briquetted iron, and we will touch on the production of chlorine and pure substances.

Iron ore

First, it’s worth considering the method of producing iron from iron ore. Iron is a very common element. In terms of content in the earth's crust, the metal ranks 4th among all elements and 2nd among metals. In the lithosphere, iron is usually presented in the form of silicates. Its highest content is observed in basic and ultrabasic rocks.

Almost all mining ores contain some amount of iron. However, only those rocks in which the proportion of the element is of industrial importance are developed. But even in this case, the amount of minerals suitable for development is more than large.

• First of all, this is iron ore - red (hematite), magnetic (magnetite) and brown (limonite). These are complex iron oxides with an element content of 70–74%. Brown iron ore is more often found in weathering crusts, where it forms so-called “iron hats” up to several hundred meters thick. The rest are mainly of sedimentary origin.
• Iron sulfide is very common - pyrite or sulfur pyrite, but it is not considered iron ore and is used for the production of sulfuric acid.
• Siderite is an iron carbonate that contains up to 35%; it is an ore with medium content of the element.
• Marcasite – includes up to 46.6%.
• Mispickel is a compound with arsenic and sulfur and contains up to 34.3% iron.
• Lellingite - contains only 27.2% of the element and is considered a low-grade ore.

Mineral rocks are classified according to their iron content as follows:

• rich - with a metal content of more than 57%, with a silica content of less than 8–10%, and an admixture of sulfur and phosphorus of less than 0.15%. Such ores are not enriched and are immediately sent to production;
• ore with an average content contains at least 35% substance and needs beneficiation;
• low-grade iron ores must contain at least 26%, and are also enriched before being sent to the workshop.

The general technological cycle of iron production in the form of cast iron, steel and rolled products is discussed in this video:

Mining

There are several methods for extracting ore. The one that is found most economically feasible is used.

• Open method of development - or quarry. Designed for shallow mineral rock. For mining, a quarry is dug to a depth of up to 500 m and a width depending on the thickness of the deposit. Iron ore is extracted from the quarry and transported by vehicles designed to carry heavy loads. As a rule, this is how high-grade ore is mined, so there is no need to enrich it.
• Mine - when the rock occurs at a depth of 600–900 m, shafts are drilled. Such development is much more dangerous because it involves underground blasting: the discovered layers are blasted, and then the collected ore is transported upward. Despite its dangers, this method is considered more effective.
• Hydraulic mining - in this case, wells are drilled to a certain depth. Pipes are lowered into the mine and water is supplied under very high pressure. The water jet crushes the rock, and then the iron ore is lifted to the surface. Borehole hydraulic production is not widespread, as it requires high costs.

Source: https://crast.ru/instrumenty/kak-dobyvajut-zhelezo-dlja-detej

Iron ore mining in Russia, largest deposits and mining methods

As you know, Russia is very rich in natural resources and is actively developing their extraction. It is on its territory that the world's largest iron ore deposits are located. The metal made from it is known to be important not only for production purposes, but also for everyday needs. Let's look in more detail at how iron ore is mined in Russia.

Why is ore so important?

Man has learned to obtain various benefits from the earth for his existence since ancient times. Cultivation of the land allows him to grow food, and the extraction of minerals from its depths and their processing provides raw materials and fuel for a variety of purposes.

It was from the moment that man began to mine iron that a completely new stage began in his development. Today, life without metal can no longer be imagined - it has become so entrenched in all its spheres. Until the beginning of the twentieth century, the largest volume of metal ore mining was allocated to iron ore.

Despite the fact that iron is contained in many rocks, only the most economically viable ones are mined, which contain the largest amount of metals and are suitable for processing in terms of their qualities.

Characteristics

Iron-bearing mineral formations make up approximately 5% of the Earth's crust, making it the fourth most abundant element in the world.

Ore contains many homogeneous bodies - minerals, and their quantity and the presence of iron itself serve as the main criteria determining its quality. An important role is also played by the amount of impurities, chemical, physical properties and a number of other indicators. Based on the content of ferrous compounds, the following types are divided:

• very rich (iron exceeds 65%);
• rich (50%-65%);
• average (25%-45%);
• poor (25% or less).

The composition of the ore and its other characteristics affect its further use. In particular, it can be used to make cast iron or steel. At the same time, a large number of harmful impurities complicate the metal production processes and increase their cost. Some chemical elements are purposefully extracted from it.

Iron ore deposits

Iron ore deposits are usually divided according to their origin. In total, in geology it is customary to distinguish the following types:

1. Magmatogenous, formed as a result of high temperature influences.
2. Exogenous, originating in river valleys. Their formation was influenced by sedimentary processes and rock weathering.
3. Metamorphogenic, which were formed in sedimentary deposits under the influence of various transformation processes, high temperatures and pressure.

Today, over 50 countries are involved in the iron mining industry and Russia is among the top five. In terms of the quantity of reserves, it ranks first and is only slightly inferior in terms of the quality of the iron itself.

How is iron ore mined?

In total, there are two ways to mine iron ore:

1. Open. Open-air mining.
2. Closed. Creation of a system of underground mine workings in the form of mines.

The essence of the open method is to cut off the top layer of earth in order to extract the rock using special equipment. Then it is sent to special enrichment enterprises, and then to electrometallurgical enterprises.

Because iron ore is embedded in strong, massive, and intact rock, blasting is used to extract it. Their implementation involves the use of ammonium nitrate, oil and other explosives. At the same time, the quality of the mined rock does not undergo any changes. As a result of explosions, the rock is destroyed, and its fragments are transported from the quarry.

If the depth of the mined mineral formation is below 500 meters, it is no longer possible to use the quarry method for its extraction. In this case, they resort to the construction of mines, the depth of which, as is known, can reach several kilometers. They are much less harmful to the environment, unlike quarries, but they are also more expensive. Special machine-type combines break up the rock, after which it is transported to the surface.

How ore beneficiation occurs

The size of ore layers can reach up to two meters, so they must be crushed before enrichment. The following methods are then used:

1. Gravity separation. To separate large and small particles, mechanical action is applied to them - crushing, rotation, etc. It is considered the best and lowest cost method, and therefore has become widespread.
2. Magnetic separation. Using a magnet, iron ore is separated from impurities, which are washed off with water.
3. Flotation. Metal particles are oxidized with the help of air, which attaches them to itself. Only homogeneous and finely ground rock is suitable for its implementation.
4. Complex method. When only one of the above methods is not enough to obtain the necessary raw materials, they are combined. Sometimes the procedure requires repeated repetition.

Next, the resulting iron ore raw materials are sent to production, where metal will be made from them. In its pure form, it is used quite rarely, but its various alloys, due to their individual characteristics, have become widespread.

The largest iron ore deposits in Russia

Most of the Russian reserves are usually attributed to Precambrian sedimentary rocks. These are mainly red, brown and magnetic iron ores, differing in their characteristics. However, only 12% of them are high-quality rocks whose iron content exceeds 60%.

In addition, the geological conditions at Russian fields are quite complex, which poses difficulties in their development, and they are located quite unevenly throughout the Russian Federation. The largest of them are based in the Central Federal District. Over 55% of the total volume of iron mined in the country comes from these deposits.

Karelia and the Murmansk region can also boast that their deposits provide 18% of all ore, and Gusevogorskoye, located in the Sverdlovsk region, provides 16%. Let us next consider the largest deposits of the Russian Federation.

Source: https://geomix.ru/blog/gornoe-delo/dobycha-zheleznoj-rudy-v-rossii-krupnejshie-mestorozhdeniya-i-sposoby-dobychi/

Iron ore - properties, extraction, application

1001student.ru > Geography > Iron ore - properties, extraction, application

Russia is a land that nature has generously endowed with such mineral wealth as iron ore. To at least roughly appreciate this luck, it is enough to imagine the role of metal objects in our lives and build a logical bridge to the categories of production.

It is not for nothing that when they first entered the lives of people hundreds of centuries ago, the changes in the way of life and consciousness of mankind turned out to be so great that this era began to be called the “Iron Age”.

• What is iron ore and what does it look like?
• Iron Ore Formation
• Types of iron ores and their characteristics
• Iron ore deposits in Russia
• Iron ore reserves in the world
• Iron ore mining
• Iron Ore Applications
• Conclusion

What is iron ore and what does it look like?

Formations in the earth's crust containing iron in more or less pure form or its compounds with other substances: oxygen, sulfur, silicon, etc.

Such deposits are called ore when the extraction of a valuable substance on an industrial scale is economically profitable.

There are many types of such mineral formations. The species leader of the geological rock is red iron ore or hematite in Greek. The name translated from Greek means “blood red” and has the chemical formula – Fe2O3.

Iron oxide has a complex color ranging from black to cherry and red. Opaque, can be dusty and dense (in the second case it has a surface sheen).

Diverse in shape - found in the form of grains, scales, crystals and even a pink bud.

Iron Ore Formation

Based on their origin in nature, iron-containing minerals useful for humans can be classified into several main groups:

1. Magmatogenic formations are formed under the influence of high temperatures.
2. Exogenous - originated in river valleys as a result of precipitation and weathering of rocks.
3. Metamorphogenic - formed on the basis of old sedimentary deposits from high pressure and heat.

These groups are in turn divided into numerous subspecies.

Types of iron ores and their characteristics

From an economic point of view, they are classified primarily by their iron content:

1. High – more than 55%. These are not natural formations, but already an industrial semi-finished product.
2. Average. An example is sinter ore. Obtained from iron-rich natural raw materials through mechanical action.
3. Low – less than 20%. These are obtained as a result of magnetic separation.

The location of ore mining is also economically important:

1. Linear - lie in places of depressions in the earth's surface, the richest in iron, with a low content of sulfur and phosphorus.
2. Flat-like - in nature they form on the surface of iron-containing quartzites.

According to geological parameters, in addition to hematites, the following are widespread and actively used:

1. Brown iron ore (nFe2O3 + nH2O) is a metal oxide with the participation of water, usually based on limonites. Characteristic dirty yellowish color, loose, porous. Valuable metal contains from a quarter to fifty percent. Not much - but the substance is well restored. It is enriched for further production of good cast iron.
2. Magnetic iron ore, magnetite is a natural iron oxide (Fe3O4). Hematite species are less common, but they contain more than 70% iron. They are dense and granular, in the form of crystals embedded in the rock, black and blue in color. Initially, the compound has magnetic properties; exposure to high temperatures neutralizes them.
3. Spar iron ore containing siderite FeCO3.
4. There is a large proportion of clay in the ore, then it is clay iron ore. A rare species with relatively low iron content and voids.

Iron ore deposits in Russia

The largest deposit in the world is the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly. This natural creation is so grandiose that people have been trying to understand it since the end of the 16th century. Navigation instruments went crazy from the power of the electric field acting from underground over more than 150 square kilometers. Ore reserves amount to billions of tons.

Deposits of magnetite quartzites are being developed in the Olenegorsk deposit near Muromsk.

On the Kola Peninsula, magnetite, olivine, apatite and magnesioferrite are mined from the Eisko-Kovdor accumulation, and there are many mines in Karelia on the territory of the Kostomuksha deposit.

One of the oldest ore mining sites that can be found on the map of Russia is located in the Sverdlovsk region. It has been supplying material since the end of the 18th century and is called the Kachkanar group of deposits.

The legacy of the Demidov family of entrepreneurs from the Petrine era is actively being transformed. At the end of the 20th century, the Gusevogorsk ore accumulation began to be developed here.

Iron ore reserves in the world

After the grandiose accumulation near Kursk, the largest phenomenon among similar ones on the world geographical map is the strip of iron deposits of the Krivoy Rog deposit in Ukraine.

Map of iron ore deposits in the world (click to enlarge)

Next in descending order is the resource of magnetites in the area around the Swedish city of Kiruna - a gift from volcanoes that lived in ancient times.

The wealth of the Lorraine iron ore basin is shared by three European countries - France, Luxembourg and Belgium.

In North America, large mines operate in Newfoundland, Belle Island and near Labrador City. In the South, places rich in ore were called Itabira and Karazhas.

Northeast India also has impressive ore reserves, and on the African continent it is mined in the Guinean city of Conakry.

The list of distribution by country looks like this:

Iron ore mining

The first criterion for mining methods is where the work is carried out:

1. On the ground: when fossils occur no more than half a kilometer from the surface. In this case, it is more economically profitable (and more expensive for the environment) to dig giant quarries using blasting operations and special equipment. This is an open source mining method.
2. Underground: a large immersion of ore in the bowels of the earth requires the creation of a mine. The closed mining method is not so traumatic for the ecological system, but more labor-intensive and dangerous for humans.

The extracted ore is transported to the plant, where the raw material is crushed for subsequent enrichment. Iron is drawn away from chemical compounds with other elements.

Sometimes to do this you have to go through not one, but several processes:

1. Gravity separation (ore particles, due to different physical densities, disintegrate due to mechanical effects on the material - crushing, vibration, rotation and screening).
2. Flotation (oxidation of evenly crushed raw materials with air, which attaches metal to itself).
3. Magnetic separation:
   • the impurity is washed off with a stream of water, and the metal is pulled away with a magnet - an ore concentrate is obtained;
   • the product of magnetic separation undergoes flotation - the raw material reveals another half of the iron in its pure form.
4. Complex method: using all the above processes, sometimes several times.

The resulting hot briquetted iron is sent to an electrometallurgical plant, where it takes the form of a metal billet of standard shapes or custom-made up to 12 meters. And the cast iron is sent to blast furnace production.

Iron Ore Applications

Intended use – production of cast iron and steel.

And they are used to make a great variety of different things that surround us: cars, office equipment, pipelines, dishes and machines, artistic forging and various tools.

Conclusion

Iron ore reserves are indicated on maps in the form of an isosceles triangle with a wide black base. The sign conveys the essence of the iron and steel industry: it is the stable basis of the modern manufacturing economy, which is still considered true by most financiers - in contrast to the various cryptocurrency markets.

Source: https://1001student.ru/geografiya/zheleznaya-ruda.html

Iron ore

Iron ore began to be mined by humans many centuries ago. Even then, the benefits of using iron became obvious.

Finding mineral formations containing iron is quite easy, since this element makes up about five percent of the earth's crust. Overall, iron is the fourth most abundant element in nature.

Iron ore

It is impossible to find it in its pure form; iron is found in certain quantities in many types of rocks. Iron ore has the highest iron content, the extraction of metal from which is the most economically profitable. The amount of iron it contains depends on its origin, the normal proportion of which is about 15%.

Chemical composition

The properties of iron ore, its value and characteristics directly depend on its chemical composition. Iron ore may contain varying amounts of iron and other impurities. Depending on this, there are several types:

• very rich, when the iron content in the ores exceeds 65%;
• rich, the percentage of iron in which varies from 60% to 65%;
• average, from 45% and above;
• poor, in which the percentage of useful elements does not exceed 45%.

The more by-products there are in iron ore, the more energy is needed to process it, and the less efficient the production of finished products is.

The composition of a rock can be a combination of various minerals, waste rock and other by-products, the ratio of which depends on its deposit.

Chemical composition of iron oresComposition of iron ores of large deposits

Gap rock may also contain iron, but recycling it is not economically feasible. The most commonly found minerals are iron oxides, carbonates and silicates.

It should be noted that ferruginous rocks may contain a huge amount of harmful substances, among which are sulfur, arsenic, phosphorus and others.

Today, there are many types of iron ores, the characteristics and names of which depend on the composition.

The most common type found in nature is red iron ore, which is based on an oxide called hematite. This oxide contains an amount of iron exceeding 70% and a minimal amount of by-products.

The physical state of this oxide can vary from powdery to dense.

Brown iron ore is an iron oxide containing water. It is often called limonite. It contains significantly less iron, the amount of which usually does not exceed a quarter.

In nature, such iron ore is found in the form of loose, porous rock, with a significant content of manganese and phosphorus. Usually richly saturated with moisture, it contains clay as waste rock.

Cast iron is very often made from it, despite the insignificant part of iron, since it is very easily processed.

Brown iron ore

Magnetic ores are distinguished by the fact that they are based on an oxide that has magnetic properties, but when heated strongly, they are lost. The amount of this type of rock in nature is limited, but the iron content in it can be as good as red iron ore. Externally, it looks like solid black-blue crystals.

Spar iron ore is an ore rock based on siderite. Very often it contains a significant amount of clay. This type of rock is relatively difficult to find in nature, which, coupled with its low iron content, makes it rarely used. Therefore, it is impossible to classify them as industrial types of ores.

Spar iron ore

In addition to oxides, nature contains other ores based on silicates and carbonates. The amount of iron content in a rock is very important for its industrial use, but also important is the presence of beneficial by-elements such as nickel, magnesium, and molybdenum.

Applications

The scope of application of iron ore is almost completely limited to metallurgy. It is used mainly for smelting cast iron, which is mined using open-hearth or converter furnaces. Today, cast iron is used in various spheres of human activity, including in most types of industrial production.

Various iron-based alloys are no less used - steel is the most widely used due to its strength and anti-corrosion properties.

Cast iron, steel and various other iron alloys are used in:

1. Mechanical engineering, for the production of various machines and devices.
2. Automotive industry, for the manufacture of engines, housings, frames, as well as other components and parts.
3. Military and missile industry, in the production of special equipment, weapons and missiles.
4. Construction, as a reinforcing element or construction of load-bearing structures.
5. Light and food industries, as containers, production lines, various units and devices.
6. Mining industry, as special machinery and equipment.

Iron ore deposits

The world's iron ore reserves are limited in quantity and location. Territories of accumulation of ore reserves are called deposits. Today, iron ore deposits are divided into:

1. Endogenous. They are characterized by a special location in the earth's crust, usually in the form of titanomagnetite ores. The shapes and locations of such inclusions are varied, they can be in the form of lenses, layers located in the earth's crust in the form of deposits, volcanic deposits, in the form of various veins and other irregular shapes.
2. Exogenous. This type includes deposits of brown iron ores and other sedimentary rocks.
3. Metamorphogenic. Which include quartzite deposits.

Deposits of such ores can be found throughout our planet. The largest number of deposits is concentrated in the territory of the post-Soviet republics. Especially Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan.

The largest iron ore deposits in Russia

Countries such as Brazil, Canada, Australia, USA, India and South Africa have large iron reserves. At the same time, almost every country on the globe has its own developed deposits, in case of shortage of which, the breed is imported from other countries.

Iron ore beneficiation

As stated, there are several types of ores. Rich ones can be processed directly after extraction from the earth's crust, others need to be enriched. In addition to the beneficiation process, ore processing includes several stages, such as sorting, crushing, separation and agglomeration.

Today there are several main methods of enrichment:

It is used to clean ores from by-products in the form of clay or sand, which are washed out using high-pressure water jets. This operation makes it possible to increase the amount of iron content in low-grade ore by approximately 5%. Therefore, it is used only in combination with other types of enrichment.

It is carried out using special types of suspensions, the density of which exceeds the density of waste rock, but is inferior to the density of iron. Under the influence of gravitational forces, the by-products rise to the top, and the iron falls to the bottom of the suspension.

The most common beneficiation method, which is based on different levels of perception by ore components of the influence of magnetic forces. Such separation can be carried out with dry rock, wet rock, or in an alternate combination of its two states.

To process dry and wet mixtures, special drums with electromagnets are used.

For this method, crushed ore in the form of dust is dipped into water with the addition of a special substance (flotation reagent) and air. Under the influence of the reagent, the iron joins the air bubbles and rises to the surface of the water, while the waste rock sinks to the bottom. Components containing iron are collected from the surface in the form of foam.

Source: https://stankiexpert.ru/spravochnik/materialovedenie/zheleznaya-ruda.html

Report Iron Ore for 3rd, 4th grade message

Iron is a durable metal that people began to use many centuries ago. But it is impossible to find it in its pure form. It is found in many rocks in the form of a compound with other minerals. So, the highest iron content is found in iron ore. Therefore, obtaining iron from ore is considered the most economically profitable.

All iron ore, depending on its deposit, is very different in its chemical composition. It contains different amounts of harmful and beneficial impurities. And the proportion of iron in it is very different. Following this, ore is divided into several types.

That rock whose iron content exceeds more than 57-65% is called rich iron ore. If its composition is approximately half iron, this ore is ordinary or medium. Well, if the ore contains very little iron, then it is called poor. The richest rock is red iron ore.

It contains more than seventy percent iron content and a minimal amount of impurities.

There are a lot of iron ore deposits on our planet. But they begin to mine it only if it contains a large amount of iron. So that production would be economically profitable. This mineral is usually mined using open-pit mining.

For this purpose, quarries are developed, where mining takes place at a depth of about half a kilometer. Using special equipment, the ore is separated from the waste rock. They are loaded onto trucks and sent for further processing.

If the deposit is located at great depth, production is carried out in specially constructed mines. But this is an expensive and very dangerous method of obtaining ore.

Metallurgy is the main industry that uses iron ore. It is a raw material for the production of cast iron. Which is produced in blast furnaces. The cast iron then goes into open-hearth furnaces, where it combines with carbon to form steel.

Today, cast iron and steel are used in many areas of human life and activity, including all types of industrial production.

Mechanical engineering, light and food industries, construction are a very small part of industries that cannot exist without these metals. Therefore, global iron ore production is increasing rapidly every year.

The main countries in the market for the extraction of this mineral are Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, Australia, India and China.

Report No. 2

People began to mine ore a very long time ago. The transition to the Iron Age from the Bronze Age occurred between the 2nd and 1st millennia BC.

Iron is a common element. In the depths of the plans, its content reaches 5 percent. Iron is not found in its pure form; it is part of iron ore.

Iron ore is a mineral resource containing iron that can be extracted for industrial use. iron in the ore is not uniform and has a fairly wide range. If iron makes up less than half of the other elements in the ore, then it is called poor. And if the iron content is more than 50%, then it is called rich. iron in ore can reach up to 70%.

There are quite a few types of iron ores. The most common is red iron ore containing the mineral hematite. It contains a lot of iron. This ore is red in color.

It is considered the best of all iron ores, as it contains few hazardous substances and is easily reduced. A rich deposit of such ore is located in Krivoy Rog. Often found in the form of crystals. Red iron ores are common in nature.

Hematite ores are used to smelt iron. Hematite can be obtained artificially.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouHtL2Mu7dw

Brown iron ore contains water. It contains less iron than red. Pure brown iron ore contains a variety of dangerous impurities, such as phosphorus and sulfur, and arsenic. Brown iron ore is easy to mine and melts easily, but the iron produced from it is usually of low quality. It is found in the form of powder or dense pieces.

Magnetic ore is based on an oxide that has magnetic properties. It contains as much iron as red iron ore, but in terms of its quantity in nature it is inferior to it. Magnetic ore has a uniform structure. Deposits of such ores are of igneous origin. At first, the ferruginous magma was liquid, and then crystallized over time. This process is very complicated.

Siderites are ores poor in iron content. Varieties of these ores can be found in the Urals. Siderite reserves are small.

Iron ores are heterogeneously distributed on the planet. Typically, iron ores occur among ancient geological formations of the Paleozoic and Archean groups. Iron ores vary in their form of occurrence. There are deposits in the form of veins, nests, layers, deposits, and surface masses. There are rich deposits in the USA, Canada, South Africa, India, and Australia. There are also iron ore deposits in Russia. Russia accounts for 18 percent of the world's iron reserves.

The method of mining iron ore depends on the depth of its occurrence.

The most common mining method is quarrying. It is used for mining deposits from depths of up to 300 meters. Quarries use excavators and rock crushing plants.

The mine method is used when ore layers occur at a depth of up to 900 meters. Rock is transported from the mine using a conveyor.

There is also borehole hydraulic mining of iron ore, which is currently almost never used.

Iron ore is used in metallurgy. Iron ore is used to produce alloys such as cast iron and steel. Iron alloys are used in the automotive industry, the military industry, building construction, and the food industry.

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How is iron (steel) obtained and from what is it made?

Iron and steel based on it are used everywhere in industry and everyday human life. However, few people know what iron is made of, or rather, how it is mined and converted into a steel alloy.

Popular Misconception

First, let's define the concepts, since people are often confused and do not quite understand what hardware is in general. This is a chemical element and a simple substance that is not found or used in its pure form. But steel is an alloy based on iron. It is rich in various chemical elements, and also contains carbon in its composition, which is necessary to impart strength and hardness.

Therefore, it is not entirely correct to talk about what iron is made of, since it is a chemical element that exists in nature. A person makes steel from it, which can later be used to make anything: bearings, car bodies, doors, etc. It is impossible to list all the items that are made from it. So, below we will not discuss what iron is made of. Instead, let's talk about converting this element into steel.

Production

There are many quarries in Russia and the world where iron ore is mined. These are huge and heavy stones that are quite difficult to get out of the quarry, since they are part of one large rock.

Directly at the quarries, explosives are placed in the rock and detonated, after which huge pieces of stones fly in different directions. Then they are collected, loaded onto large dump trucks (such as BelAZ) and transported to a processing plant.

Iron will be extracted from this rock.

Sometimes, if the ore is on the surface, it is not necessary to mine it. It is enough to split it into pieces in any other way, load it onto a dump truck and take it away.

Production

So now we understand what iron is made of. The rock is the raw material for its extraction. It is taken to a processing plant, loaded into a blast furnace and heated to a temperature of 1400-1500 degrees. This temperature must be maintained for a certain time.

The iron contained in the rock melts and takes on a liquid form. Then it remains to be poured into special forms. The resulting slags are separated, and the iron itself is clean.

The agglomerate is then fed into bunker bowls, where it is blown through with air flow and cooled with water.

There is another way to obtain iron: the rock is crushed and fed to a special magnetic separator. Since iron has the ability to be magnetized, the minerals remain on the separator, and all the waste rock is washed away. Of course, in order to turn iron into a metal and give it a solid form, it must be alloyed with another component - carbon. Its share in the composition is very small, but it is thanks to it that the metal becomes highly durable.

It is worth noting that depending on the volume of carbon added to the composition, the steel may be different. In particular, it can be more or less soft. There is, for example, special engineering steel, in the production of which only 0.75% carbon and manganese are added to iron.

Now you know what iron is made from and how it is converted into steel. Of course, the methods are described very superficially, but they convey the essence. You need to remember that iron is made from rock, which can then be used to make steel.

Manufacturers

Today, there are large deposits of iron ore in different countries, which are the basis for the production of the world's steel reserves.

In particular, Russia and Brazil account for 18% of world steel production, Australia – 14%, Ukraine – 11%. The largest exporters are India, Brazil, and Australia. Please note that metal prices are constantly changing.

Thus, in 2011, the cost of one ton of metal was 180 US dollars, and by 2016 the price was fixed at 35 US dollars per ton.

Iron ore - properties, origin, extraction and use

If we consider iron as a chemical element, then it is part of various rocks. However, not all of them are used as raw materials for mining. Iron ore is usually called only those mineral formations that contain a certain amount of the mineral and its extraction is justified from an economic point of view. In nature, iron is distributed in the form of compounds with various substances.

People first began mining iron ore more than two thousand years ago. Thanks to this, it became possible to produce metal products that are more durable than copper ones. Depending on their origin, all minerals containing iron are usually classified into 3 groups:

• Metamorphogenic formations. They appeared on the site of old sedimentary deposits under the influence of high temperature and pressure.
• Exogenous. They formed in river valleys due to the influence of wind and water on rocks.
• Magmatogenous. They were created as a result of high temperature exposure.

It should be noted that these groups are divided into a large number of subspecies.

Types and characteristics of ore

In addition to the chemical composition of the rock, from an economic point of view, the location where it is planned to mine iron is also important. The richest deposits are linear. In addition, they contain the purest possible breed. And also in nature there are flat-like deposits formed on the surface of iron-containing quartzites.

The most common is red iron ore, based on hematite oxide. This substance contains a high iron content, and the amount of harmful impurities is relatively small. Several other types of rock are widely used:

• Brown iron ore. This substance is an oxide and has a dirty yellow tint.
• Magnetic iron ore. The formula of the substance is Fe3O4. It is less common compared to red, but often contains over 70% of the useful mineral. The rock can be dense or granular interspersed with lumps of a dark blue hue. When mined, this ore has magnetic properties, which disappear after high-temperature processing.
• Clay iron ore. It is relatively rare and, as a rule, contains few minerals.
• Spar iron ore. This rock contains siderites and is quite rare. Due to the low content of useful minerals, its extraction does not seem economically profitable.

Carbonates and silicates are also often found in nature.

Reserves in the country and the world

The largest iron ore deposit in Russia is located in the Oryol, Kursk and Belgorod regions. It should be noted that the Kursk magnetic anomaly is the most powerful source of iron not only in the country, but throughout the world. This natural creation is so grandiose that it was discovered back in the 16th century. The ore reserves in the deposit amount to billions of tons.

The Bakchar deposit is another large iron ore basin in the world. Its location is the interfluve of the Iksa and Andorma rivers, flowing in the Tomsk region. It was discovered in the 60s of the last century during the search for new places for oil production. The basin area is about 16 thousand km2. The rock lies at a depth of 190−220 m.

On average, mined ore contains about 57% iron, and in enriched rock - up to 97%. Experts estimate the ore reserve at more than 27 billion tons. Today, new technologies are being introduced in the basin, and instead of open-pit mining, it is planned to use borehole mining.

In the Krasnoyarsk Territory there is the Abagasskoye field, which was discovered back in 1933, but active development began only in the 60s. The main mineral mined in this basin is magnetite. In addition, pyrite, musketovite and hematite are found. The rock is mined by open-pit mining, and estimated ore reserves amount to more than 70 million tons.

After the Kursk magnetic anomaly, the second place on the world map is occupied by the Krivoy Rog field, located on the territory of Ukraine. In Western Europe, a powerful source of iron is the Lorraine iron ore basin. It is located in France, Belgium and Luxembourg. The basin has been mined since the 19th century, and most of the ore produced comes from France. The total ore reserve is believed to be about 15 billion tons.

The rock is mined underground. According to the United States Geological Survey, the main iron deposits are located in Russia, Ukraine, China, Brazil and Australia.

Mining Features

Deposit development can be carried out using open-pit or underground methods. The second method causes less damage to nature, but is more labor-intensive. The extracted rock is delivered to the plant, where the raw materials must first be crushed. The ore is then enriched and the iron is separated from other elements.

This procedure can be carried out in several ways:

• Gravity separation . Pieces of rock have different densities and disintegrate under mechanical stress, for example, as a result of vibration.
• Flotation . Finely ground raw materials are placed in a special chamber, into which air and working fluid are then supplied. Iron particles connect with air bubbles and rise.
• Magnetic separation . The useful mineral is pulled out using magnets.
• Combined . Several methods are used to separate iron from waste rock.

The resulting ore concentrate is then sent to the metallurgical plant.

Area of ​​use

The scope of ore application is limited to metallurgical production. It is the main raw material for the production of cast iron and various alloys. Thus, various metals are made from ore. However, 2 thousand years ago people realized that in its pure form iron was slightly superior to bronze in hardness. As a result, an alloy of iron and carbon was discovered, called steel or cast iron. The first type of material contains 0.1−2.14% carbon.

It should be noted that for a long time cast iron was not used for the production of objects. Metallurgists of the past considered it a waste due to its low ductility. Only after the invention of cannons did this material begin to be used for the production of cannonballs.

Today the situation has changed significantly and cast iron is used in various fields. The leader in ferrous metallurgy is China. This country significantly surpasses other countries in the production of iron and steel.

The leading exporters are Australia and Brazil.

The global economy requires more and more raw materials, and iron ore deposits are being actively developed in many countries. However, developed countries often prefer to reduce the volume of their own production, preferring to export relatively inexpensive material. Although the world's iron reserves seem enormous, they are not inexhaustible.

Source: https://nauka.club/geografiya/zheleznaya-ruda.html

Iron ore mining

Humanity, according to archaeologists, learned to process iron ore and make various products from it as early as 3000 BC.

In different countries, iron ore was processed using complex techniques, and over the centuries people only improved in its processing and forging. Over time, the production of iron ore increased, and the production of quality products increased to such a level that they became available to everyone.

At each time stage, humanity used iron ores that could be processed with economic benefit using the equipment of that time: in the first millennium, only ores with an iron content of at least 80-90% were processed. But the more advanced the technology and methods of mining iron ore became, the more poor iron ores were used.

In the modern world, industries where iron ore is constantly used are steel production, iron smelting, and the production of ferroalloys and pipes.

Iron ore mining in the world

Currently, all iron ore deposits are divided according to the degree of Fe content into rich (57% iron content in the total ore mass) and poor (at least 26%). And the iron ore itself is divided into ordinary (sinter ore), its iron content is at an average level, pellets are the raw iron-containing mass, and separated ore with the lowest iron content in the total mass.

A special type of ore includes magnetic iron ore with a 70% content of iron oxide and ferrous oxide. The mining area for such iron ore in Russia is the Urals, Blagodat and Magnitnaya mountains.

Norway and Sweden also have such deposits. In the USA, magnetic iron ore is mined in the state of Pennsylvania, but the best deposits for the extraction of iron ore in this country have already been practically developed, leaving deposits with an ordinary ore content (up to 40-50%), the same situation is in the deposits of Ukraine and Russia.

For this reason, many countries leading in iron ore production have to constantly improve raw material processing technologies. In recent years, rich deposits have been found only in Australia; they are also found in Canada and Mexico. At the same time, North America and Western Europe are inferior in total iron ore production to Australia, which has been the leader in iron ore production for several years.

Countries such as Germany, Great Britain and Belgium were forced to abandon the development of their own deposits, since the raw materials that are mined there belong to the third group and their further processing is very expensive.

In these countries, iron ore mining was carried out using open pit mining.

First of all, such development of poor deposits causes great damage to the environment, since for every ton of pure iron mined, there are several tens of tons of industrial waste dumps.

Iron ore mining technology

In a quarry where a layer of iron ore rocks lies at a shallow depth, the upper layers of soil are excavated to a depth of about 500 meters. After the top layer is removed, the ore is selected using special equipment and transported from the quarry to processing plants.

The economic benefits for producers in these countries are reduced due to the low quality of the ore requiring beneficiation.

This entails additional financial costs, and the need to carry out expensive restoration measures at the mining site makes the extraction of such minerals unprofitable.

As a result, countries such as France and Germany have been among the top ten countries importing iron ore and its primary processing products for many years. Supplies are mainly made from Asian countries, as well as Russia.

India has rich deposits in Asian countries. In South America, the main place for iron ore mining is Brazil, which has iron ore deposits with a 60% iron ore content and is successfully developing specialized enterprises.

The PRC, despite the fact that, according to experts, has large but poor deposits, still processes this ore. In 2009, China was the leader in iron ore exports.

In the total world production of iron ore, this country accounted for 1/3 of all raw materials. Compared to the mid-20th century, the main production of ore for the iron and steel industry has shifted from Western Europe to Asia, South America and Eastern Europe.

Asian countries currently account for about 55% of all production.

At the same time, the industry's need for iron ore production throughout the world is only increasing from year to year. Some countries with developed automotive and industrial production, such as Japan and South Korea, do not have their own deposits. For this reason, it becomes important to introduce new technologies to reduce economic costs in the extraction of iron ore raw materials. Countries of the world that have significant reserves of iron ore deposits are looking for new technologies for enriching the extracted raw materials.

Today, almost 100 countries have such raw materials deposits that are potentially ready for development. America (both North and South) accounts for approximately 267 billion tons, Russia - 100 billion tons, Asian countries have deposited reserves of 110 billion tons, Australia and Oceania (together) - 82, Africa has about 50 billion tons, in Europe – 56 billion tons.

At the same time, in terms of iron content in ore, Brazil and Russia have the same percentage of global reserves. Each of these countries has 18% of the reserves. Third place in this ranking belongs to Australia with 14%, fourth place is occupied by Ukraine - 11%, China has reserves of 9%, India - 5%. The United States has the smallest reserve of iron content in ore among the current active deposit developers, only 3%.

Processing of raw materials is carried out in various ways: the countries of Western Europe and the USA, thanks to new scientific and technical methods for enriching poor raw materials, are achieving a final product of better quality. They agglomerate raw materials, but it should be taken into account that such raw materials cannot be transported and must be processed on the domestic market.

In the issue of iron ore mining, the countries that benefit are the producing countries that export iron ore pellets; the mining technologies do not differ from the generally accepted ones, but the raw materials undergo pre-processing. Iron ore pellets are easy to transport and then on site, this raw material, thanks to modern technology, is easily reduced into pure iron and fed into further industrial processes.

Source: https://promplace.ru/dobycha-i-obrabotka-poleznyh-iskopaemyh/dobycha-zheleznoi-rudy-1474.htm

Iron

 

Pure iron (99.97%), purified by electrolysis

Iron is a malleable silver-white metal with high chemical reactivity: iron corrodes quickly when exposed to high temperatures or high humidity. Iron burns in pure oxygen, and in a finely dispersed state it spontaneously ignites in air. Denoted by the symbol Fe (Latin Ferrum). One of the most common metals in the earth's crust (second place after aluminum).

STRUCTURE

Two modifications of the iron crystal lattice

Several polymorphic modifications have been established for iron, of which the high-temperature modification - γ-Fe (above 906°) forms a lattice of a face-centered cube of the Cu type (a0 = 3.63), and the low-temperature modification - the α-Fe lattice of a centered cube of the α-Fe type (a0 = 2.86).
Depending on the heating temperature, iron can be found in three modifications, characterized by different crystal lattice structures:

1. In the temperature range from the lowest to 910 ° C - a-ferrite (alpha ferrite), which has a crystal lattice structure in the form of a centered cube;
2. In the temperature range from 910 to 1390°C - austenite, the crystal lattice of which has the structure of a face-centered cube;
3. In the temperature range from 1390 to 1535 ° C (melting point) - d-ferrite (delta ferrite). The crystal lattice of d-ferrite is the same as that of a-ferrite. The only difference between them is the different (larger for d-ferrite) distances between the atoms.

When liquid iron is cooled, primary crystals (crystallization centers) appear simultaneously at many points in the cooled volume. With subsequent cooling, new crystalline cells are built around each center until the entire supply of liquid metal is exhausted.

The result is a granular structure of the metal. Each grain has a crystal lattice with a certain direction of its axes.

With subsequent cooling of solid iron, during the transitions of d-ferrite to austenite and austenite to a-ferrite, new crystallization centers may appear with a corresponding change in grain size

PROPERTIES

Iron ore

In its pure form under normal conditions it is a solid. It has a silver-gray color and a pronounced metallic luster. The mechanical properties of iron include its level of hardness on the Mohs scale. It is equal to four (average). Iron has good electrical and thermal conductivity.

The last feature can be felt by touching an iron object in a cold room.
Because this material conducts heat quickly, it removes most of it from your skin in a short period of time, which is why you feel cold. If you touch, for example, wood, you will notice that its thermal conductivity is much lower.

The physical properties of iron include its melting and boiling points. The first is 1539 degrees Celsius, the second is 2860 degrees Celsius. We can conclude that the characteristic properties of iron are good ductility and fusibility. But that's not all. Also, the physical properties of iron include its ferromagnetism.

What it is? Iron, whose magnetic properties we can observe in practical examples every day, is the only metal that has such a unique distinctive feature. This is explained by the fact that this material is capable of magnetization under the influence of a magnetic field.

And after the end of the action of the latter, the iron, the magnetic properties of which have just been formed, remains a magnet for a long time. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that in the structure of this metal there are many free electrons that are able to move.

Reserves and production

Iron is one of the most common elements in the solar system, especially on the terrestrial planets, in particular on Earth. A significant part of the iron of the terrestrial planets is located in the cores of the planets, where its content is estimated to be about 90%. iron in the earth's crust is 5%, and in the mantle about 12%.

Iron

Iron is quite widespread in the earth's crust - it accounts for about 4.1% of the mass of the earth's crust (4th place among all elements, 2nd among metals).
In the mantle and earth's crust, iron is concentrated mainly in silicates, while its content is significant in basic and ultrabasic rocks, and low in acidic and intermediate rocks. A large number of ores and minerals containing iron are known.

Of greatest practical importance are red iron ore (hematite, Fe2O3; contains up to 70% Fe), magnetic iron ore (magnetite, FeFe2O4, Fe3O4; contains 72.4% Fe), brown iron ore or limonite (goethite and hydrogoethite, respectively FeOOH and FeOOH nH2O ). Goethite and hydrogoethite are most often found in weathering crusts, forming so-called “iron hats”, the thickness of which reaches several hundred meters.

They can also be of sedimentary origin, falling out of colloidal solutions in lakes or coastal areas of the seas.
In this case, oolitic, or legume, iron ores are formed. Vivianite Fe3(PO4)2·8H2O is often found in them, forming black elongated crystals and radial aggregates. iron in sea water - 1·10−5-1·10−8%
In industry, iron is obtained from iron ore, mainly from hematite (Fe2O3) and magnetite (FeO·Fe2O3).

There are various ways to extract iron from ores. The most common is the blast furnace process. The first stage of production is the reduction of iron with carbon in a blast furnace at a temperature of 2000 °C. In a blast furnace, carbon in the form of coke, iron ore in the form of agglomerate or pellets, and flux (such as limestone) are fed from above, and are met by a stream of forced hot air from below.

In addition to the blast furnace process, the process of direct iron production is common. In this case, pre-crushed ore is mixed with special clay, forming pellets. The pellets are fired and treated in a shaft furnace with hot methane conversion products, which contain hydrogen. Hydrogen easily reduces iron without contaminating the iron with impurities such as sulfur and phosphorus, which are common impurities in coal.

Iron is obtained in solid form and is subsequently melted in electric furnaces. Chemically pure iron is obtained by electrolysis of solutions of its salts.

ORIGIN

Native iron

Origin telluric (terrestrial) iron is rarely found in basalt lavas (Uifak, Disko Island, off the western coast of Greenland, near Kassel, Germany).

At both locations, pyrrhotite (Fe1-xS) and cohenite (Fe3C) are associated with it, which is explained by both the reduction by carbon (including from the host rocks) and the decomposition of carbonyl complexes such as Fe(CO)n.

In microscopic grains, it has more than once been established in altered (serpentinized) ultrabasic rocks, also in paragenesis with pyrrhotite, sometimes with magnetite, due to which it arises during reduction reactions. Very rarely found in the oxidation zone of ore deposits, during the formation of swamp ores.

Findings have been recorded in sedimentary rocks associated with the reduction of iron compounds with hydrogen and hydrocarbons.
Almost pure iron was found in lunar soil, which is associated with both meteorite falls and magmatic processes. Finally, two classes of meteorites - stony-iron and iron - contain natural iron alloys as a rock-forming component.

APPLICATION

Iron ring

Iron is one of the most used metals, accounting for up to 95% of global metallurgical production. Iron is the main component of steels and cast irons - the most important structural materials. Iron can be part of alloys based on other metals - for example, nickel.

Magnetic iron oxide (magnetite) is an important material in the production of long-term computer memory devices: hard drives, floppy disks, etc. Ultrafine magnetite powder is used in many black and white laser printers mixed with polymer granules as a toner. This uses both the black color of the magnetite and its ability to stick to the magnetized transfer roller.

The unique ferromagnetic properties of a number of iron-based alloys contribute to their widespread use in electrical engineering for magnetic circuits of transformers and electric motors. Iron(III) chloride (ferric chloride) is used in amateur radio practice for etching printed circuit boards.

Ferrous sulfate heptate (ferrous sulfate) mixed with copper sulfate is used to combat harmful fungi in gardening and construction. Iron is used as an anode in iron-nickel batteries and iron-air batteries.

Aqueous solutions of ferrous and ferric chlorides, as well as its sulfates, are used as coagulants in the purification processes of natural and waste water in the water treatment of industrial enterprises.

Iron - Fe

Crystallographic properties



Source: http://mineralpro.ru/minerals/iron/

Natural generation[edit | edit code]

This ore is found in the lower half of the world, at heights from 1 to 64 blocks. Iron is most often found underground or in caves, although it can occasionally be found on the surface. At altitudes 2-61, the concentration of this ore is about 0.72%. On average, each chunk contains 75 blocks of iron ore.

Destruction[edit | edit code]

To extract ore, you need to mine it with a stone, iron or diamond pickaxe.

1. Time for unenchanted tools in seconds.

IngredientsProcessResult

Iron ore		iron ingot

Starting with Indev, iron ore can be smelted in a furnace to produce an iron ingot, which is used to craft tools, armor, flint and more. Many players prefer iron tools due to the prevalence of iron in the world, good quality and ability to mine any blocks except obsidian.

History[edit | edit code]

Classic version of Java Edition0.0.14a_01 Indev version of Java EditionJanuary 29, 2010 February 1, 2010 Official release of Java Edition1.3.1 12w22a Alpha version of Pocket Edition0.3.0 Legacy Console EditionTU1CU11.0Patch 1

Iron ore has been added to the game. It is generated by large veins, it can be so large that it will be present in 3 caves, it can have 167 blocks of ore in 1 vein.

Destroying iron ore gives the player 1-3 iron blocks. In later versions, it drops iron ingots.

Before the furnace was added, players smelted ore by throwing it into the fire.

Iron ore requires a stone, iron, or diamond pickaxe to drop ingots.

Now the player is given experience for smelting iron ore, as well as for smelting other ores.

Iron ore has been added to the game.

Iron ore has been added to the game.

Problems[edit | edit code]

Issues related to "Iron Ore" are maintained in the bug repository. Problem reports should be left there.

Gallery[edit | edit code]

• Due to the widespread distribution of iron ore, it can often be found among veins of other ores.
• Several veins of resources nearby

Blocks

Source: https://minecraft-ru.gamepedia.com/%D0%96%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D1%80 %D1%83%D0%B4%D0%B0

About iron and iron ore

When they say “iron” about something, they mean durable, strong, indestructible. It is not surprising to hear: “iron will”, “iron health” and even “iron fist”. What is iron?

History of the name

Iron in its pure form is a silver-colored metal; in Latin it is called Fe (ferrum). Scientists argue about the origin of the Russian name. Some believe that it arose from the word “jalja”, which means metal in Sanskrit, others claim that it is the word “zhel”, meaning “to shine”.

How did people get iron?

For the first time, iron found itself in the hands of a man, falling from the sky. After all, many meteorites were almost entirely iron. Therefore, in Ancient Egypt, objects made of this metal were depicted blue - the color of the sky. Many peoples have myths about the heavenly origin of iron tools - supposedly they were given by the gods.

What is the "Iron Age"?

When man discovered bronze, the “Bronze Age” began. Later it was replaced by the “iron” one. This is the name given to the time when the Khalibs, the people who lived on the shores of the Black Sea, learned to melt special sand in special furnaces. The resulting metal was a beautiful silver color and did not rust.

Have gold items always been more highly valued?

In those days, when iron was smelted from meteorites, it was mainly used to make jewelry that only people of noble birth could wear. Often these jewelry had a gold frame, and in ancient Rome even wedding rings were made of iron. A letter has been preserved written by one of the pharaohs of Egypt to the king of the Hittites, where he asked to send him iron, promising to pay in gold in any quantity.

World's Wonders Made of Iron

In India, in Delhi, there is an ancient column more than seven meters high. It was made of pure iron back in 415 AD. But even now there is not a trace of rust on it. According to legend, touching the column with your back grants your cherished desire. Another grandiose iron structure is the Eiffel Tower. More than seven thousand tons of metal were required to make the symbol of Paris.

Where does iron come from?

To get iron, you need iron ore. These are minerals, stones in which iron is combined with various other substances. By purifying the iron from impurities, the desired metal is obtained. For example, the raw material can be magnetic iron ore, which contains up to 70% iron. Ironstone is a black or dark gray stone. In Russia, it is mined in the Urals, for example, in the depths of the mountain, which is called Magnitnaya.

How is ore mined?

Iron ore deposits are found not only in Russia, but also in Ukraine, Sweden, Norway, Brazil, the USA and some other countries. The reserves of this mineral are not the same everywhere; they begin to mine it only if it seems profitable, because development is expensive and will not pay off if there is too little iron.

Most often, iron ore is mined using the open-pit method. They dig a huge hole called a quarry. It is very deep - half a kilometer deep. And the width depends on how much ore there is around. Special machines scoop out the ore, separating it from the unwanted rock. Then trucks take it to factories.

However, not every deposit can be developed in this way. If the ore is deep, you have to make mines to extract it. For a mine, they first dig a deep well, which is called a shaft, and below it there are corridors - drifts. The miners are coming down.

These are brave people, they find ore and blast it, and then transport it piece by piece to the surface.

The work of miners is very dangerous, because the mine can collapse, and there are dangerous gases below, and even in an explosion, people can get hurt, although they are very careful and follow safety rules.

How is iron obtained from ore?

But getting ore is not everything! After all, obtaining iron from ore is also a difficult process. Although they learned to smelt iron from ore a long time ago. In ancient times, blacksmiths smelted it; they were very respected people. Ore and charcoal were placed in a special furnace called a forge and then set on fire.

However, the usual combustion temperature is not high enough for smelting, so the fire was fanned using a bellows - a device that blows air with great force. At first they were moved by hands, and later they learned to use the power of water.

As a result of heating, a sintered mass was obtained, which the blacksmith then forged, giving the iron the desired shape.

Alloys

More often it was (and is still used) not pure iron, but steel or cast iron. It is an alloy of iron and carbon dioxide. If the alloy contains more than 2% carbon, then cast iron is obtained. It is fragile, but it melts easily and can be given any shape. If carbon is less than 2%, then steel is obtained. It is very durable and is used to make many necessary things, cars, weapons.

Now, of course, other methods are used, although their principle is the same: smelting with the addition of carbon dioxide at high temperatures. Currently, electricity is used for this purpose.

Why does the human body need iron?

If a person lacks iron, he gets sick. This metal is needed for the formation of hemoglobin, which delivers oxygen to every cell of the body. Therefore, you need to eat foods rich in iron - liver, legumes, apples.

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Source: http://www.doklad-na-temu.ru/iskopaemye/jelezo.htm