page_title: Iron ore
section_title: Banded iron formations
hierarchical_section_title: Iron ore / Sources / Banded iron formations
caption_attribution_description: English: This image shows a 2.1 billion year old rock containing black-banded ironstone. The rock weighs about 8.5 tons, and is approximately two meters high, three meters wide, and one meter thick. It was found in North America and belongs to the National Museum of Mineralogy and Geology, Dresden, Germany. The rock is located at +51°2'34.84" +13°45'26.67". Deutsch: Dieses Bild zeigt einen etwa 8,5 Tonnen schweren und 2,1 Milliarden Jahre alten Block mit Bändereisenerzen. Der etwa zwei Meter hohe, drei Meter breite und einen Meter tiefe Gesteinsblock wurde in Nordamerika gefunden und gehört dem Staatlichen Museum für Mineralogie und Geologie Dresden. Der Block befindet sich bei den Koordinaten +51°2'34.84" +13°45'26.67". Português: Imagem duma antiga rocha de 8,5 toneladas de 2,1 biliões de anos, com faixas de minério de ferro. Este bloco de pedra de aproximadamente dois metros de altura, três de largura e um de espessura foi encontrado no norte da América e encontra-se em exposição no Museu Nacional de Mineralogia e Geologia em Dresden, Alemanha, em +51°2'34.84"N +13°45'26.67"E. Italiano: Questa immagine mostra una roccia vecchia di 2,1 miliardi di anni, contenente orizzonti ferriferi a bande , che pesa circa 8,5 tonnellate. Approssimatamente la pietra è alta due metri, larga tre e spessa un metro,fu trovata in Nord America e appartiene al Museo Nazionale di Mineralogia e Geologia a Dresda, in Germania. La roccia è situata a latitudine +51°2'34.84" N e longitudine +13°45'26.67" E. Русский: Здесь изображена скала возрастом 2,1 миллиарда лет, содержащую железную руду с черной каймой, вес камня приблизительно 8,5 тонн. Приблизительно два метра высотой, три метра шириной, и один метр толщиной камень был найден в Северной Америке и принадлежит Национальному музею Минералогии и Геологии в Дрездене, Германия. Скала расположена +51°2'34.84"N +13°45'26.67"E. Camera data Camera Nikon D70 Lens Tamron SP AF 90mm/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 Focal length 90 mm Aperture f/2.8 Exposure time 1/250 s Sensivity ISO 200
context_page_description: Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the form of magnetite, hematite, goethite, limonite or siderite.
  Ores containing very high quantities of hematite or magnetite are known as "natural ore" or "direct shipping ore", meaning they can be fed directly into iron-making blast furnaces. Iron ore is the raw material used to make pig iron, which is one of the main raw materials to make steel—98% of the mined iron ore is used to make steel. In 2011 the Financial Times has speculated that iron ore is "more integral to the global economy than any other commodity, except perhaps oil".
context_section_description: Banded iron formations (BIFs) are sedimentary rocks containing more than 15% iron composed predominantly of thinly bedded iron minerals and silica (as quartz). Banded iron formations occur exclusively in Precambrian rocks, and are commonly weakly to intensely metamorphosed. Banded iron formations may contain iron in carbonates (siderite or ankerite) or silicates (minnesotaite, greenalite, or grunerite), but in those mined as iron ores, oxides (magnetite or hematite) are the principal iron mineral. Banded iron formations are known as taconite within North America.
  The mining involves moving tremendous amounts of ore and waste. The waste comes in two forms, non-ore bedrock in the mine (overburden or interburden locally known as mullock), and unwanted minerals which are an intrinsic part of the ore rock itself (gangue). The mullock is mined and piled in waste dumps, and the gangue is separated during the beneficiation process and is removed as tailings. Taconite tailings are mostly the mineral quartz, which is chemically inert. This material is stored in large, regulated water settling ponds.
caption: 2.1-billion-year-old rock showing banded iron formation.
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