Iron ore is the naturally occurring mineral aggregate from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. This raw material is primarily composed of iron oxides, such as hematite and magnetite, which are refined to make the world’s most used metal. Approximately 98% of all mined iron ore is channeled directly into the steelmaking process, underscoring its foundational role in global industry and infrastructure.
Global Production Hubs
The global supply of iron ore is highly concentrated, with a few major nations dominating both production volume and seaborne trade. Australia is consistently the world’s largest producer, often accounting for nearly 40% of the global output. The vast majority of its resources are concentrated in Western Australia, particularly the Pilbara region, where massive-scale operations extract high-grade hematite ore.
Brazil ranks as the second-largest global producer, with its output primarily originating from the states of Pará and Minas Gerais. The Carajás Mine in Pará is one of the world’s largest iron ore operations, contributing significantly to Brazil’s total production. Together, Australia and Brazil supply the majority of the world’s traded ore, making them the most influential exporters to global markets.
China is another major producer, ranking third globally in terms of mined volume, but its domestic ore is often lower-grade and consumed almost entirely by its own steel industry. Despite its large domestic output, China remains the world’s largest consumer of iron ore and must import a large percentage of its required feedstock. Other significant contributors to the global supply include India and Russia, which play important roles in regional trade and supply chains.
The Extraction Process
The overwhelming majority of iron ore is removed from the earth using the open-pit mining method, which is the most cost-effective technique for shallow, widespread deposits. This process begins with the removal of the overburden, which is the topsoil and waste rock covering the valuable ore body. Once the ore is exposed, large holes are drilled into the dense rock and loaded with explosive mixtures.
Blasting fractures the ore body into pieces manageable for excavation and transport. Massive hydraulic excavators and electric shovels then scoop up the fragmented raw material, often called “run-of-mine” ore. This material is then loaded onto huge haul trucks that transport the crude ore to the initial crushing and processing facilities.
Open-pit operations are characterized by their terraced, step-like structure, known as benches, which allows for the progressive extraction of deeper ore. Although underground mining is sometimes used for deeply buried, high-quality deposits, the scale and economics of iron ore extraction overwhelmingly favor the surface-based, open-pit approach.
Preparing Ore for Use
The raw material delivered from the mine is not yet ready for the blast furnace and must undergo a process known as beneficiation to increase its iron content and remove impurities, or “gangue.” This preparation begins with multiple stages of crushing and grinding to reduce the large rocks into a fine powder. The goal of crushing is to liberate the iron minerals from the surrounding waste material.
Following size reduction, various separation techniques are employed to concentrate the iron content. For magnetite ores, this often involves magnetic separation, where the naturally magnetic iron oxide is pulled away from non-magnetic waste material. Lower-grade hematite ores might require processes like flotation or gravity separation to achieve a higher iron concentration.
The resulting fine iron concentrate cannot be fed directly into a furnace because it would impede the airflow, so it must be agglomerated. This is accomplished through sintering, which creates a porous, fused material called sinter feed, or through pelletization, which forms small, uniform balls called pellets. These prepared products are then suitable for the high-temperature reduction processes used in steelmaking.