Labrador Iron Mines Investors & Media Iron Ore Products &
Markets Iron ore is the raw material required to make pig iron,
which is the primary (98%) raw material used to make steel. Pure
iron ore is virtually unknown on the surface of the Earth except
as Fe-Ni alloys from meteorites and very rare forms of deep
mantle xenoliths. Therefore, all sources of iron used in
industry exploit iron oxide minerals, one of the primary forms
of which is hematite. World resources of iron ore are estimated
to exceed 800 billion tonnes of crude ore containing more than
230 billion tonnes of iron, implying an average iron content of
28.75%. Iron ore consists of oxygen and iron atoms bonded
together to form the iron-oxide molecule and needs to have the
oxygen removed through smelting to create a purer iron product.
During this process, the iron ore is heated to extreme
temperatures in blast furnaces where lump ore is more stable and
therefore preferred. By comparison, iron fines must be sintered
before charging to the furnace.