UNIT- III
ABIOTIC RESOURCES
DISTRIBUTION OF FERROUS METALS (IRON ORE)
Minerals are essential for the economic development and progress of civilization
through the ages. The terms ‘stone age’, copper age’, ‘bronze age’, and ‘iron age’ in
the history of human civilization reveal the importance of minerals for man. In
ancient times minerals were used for making tools, weapons, utensils, and for
constructing buildings, roads etc. Since the beginning of copper age mining has
become a very important economic activity of mankind. Mining provide
employment opportunities, attract population to settle around the mining sites,
stimulate the development of transportation, extend the scope for the development
of domestic industries, and open new scope for export earnings. A mineral is a
natural substance of inorganic origin with definite chemical and physical properties.
Some minerals, such as gold, silver, diamond (carbon), are composed of one element
only, while most of the minerals are formed of two elements. Minerals sometimes
occur on the earth’s crust but most of the time is buried below the surface. Large-
scale mining is dependent on several factors like- size of the deposit, depth, amount
and location. Mineralogists recognize more than 1600 minerals, of which 200 are
extracted for commercial and industrial purposes, and less than one third of these are
economically significant. Minerals vary a great deal in their structure, composition,
use etc. broadly, minerals can be classified into the following groups:.
Some of the uses of mineral resources are:
1. Used in construction of buildings, bridges and housing settlement.
2. Development of industries and machinery.
3. Used for generation of energy mainly Coal, petroleum and natural gas.
4. Used for development of defence equipment.
5. Used in the field of communication like telephone, wires, cables, electronic
devices etc.
6. Formation of alloys for various purposes.
7. Used for formation of ornaments like jewellery of gold, diamond, silver etc.
8. Used for synthesis of fertilizers, fungicides etc.
Distribution of Minerals
Mineral resources are widely and unevenly distributed. The distribution of mineral
resources is largely governed by the geological history of a region. Exploitation of a
mineral resource is determined by a number of factors- the quantity and quality of
the deposit, its accessibility, availability of labour and power, and the demand for it.
FERROUS METALS
Minerals that contain iron are called ferrous minerals. Example of ferrous minerals
Chromites, Iron ore, and manganese.
IRON ORE
Iron ore is the most important mineral that is used to extract metallic Iron and
Steel Industry. Extracted metal is widely used by secondary industries for
manufacturing of machines, machine tools, construction of buildings etc. It is the
most widely used metal because of its certain qualities like hardness, strength and
durability. Further, iron is malleable and possess magnetic properties. Hence, Iron,
because of its significance in manufacturing and development of infrastructure has
wide economic importance. The iron ore is found in following four types:
Magnetite: It is the most important and best kind of iron ore. It contains about 72
percent metallic iron in it. It is black in colour.
Hematite: It is also an important source. It contains about 60-70 percent metallic
iron in it. It is red and brown in colour.
Limonite: It contains about 30 to 40 percent metallic iron in it. It is mostly yellow
in colour. It is a low-grade iron ore.
Siderite: It has more impurities. It contains about 48 percent metallic iron content
in it. It is brown in colour. It contains a mixture of iron and carbon. It is a low-grade
iron ore.
Iron ore is widely distributed around the world. China is the world's largest producer
of iron ore followed by Brazil and Australia at the second and third position
respectively. Iron ore producing areas are widely distributed in the world. There are
about 60 countries in the world, which produce iron ore. China, Brazil, Australia,
India, Russia, Ukraine, USA, South Africa, Canada, Sweden, etc., are the main
producers of the iron ore. Majority of the world's total reserves of iron ore of
3,20,000 million tones is located in North America, Russia, United Kingdom, Brazil,
South Africa and India.
1. China: China now emerged as a leading iron ore-producing country in the world.
Till 1975, its production of iron ore in the world was only 6.5 per cent, but in year
2000, China produced 24.3 per cent iron ore of the world. This percentage further
increased to 30.77 in year 2006- 07, accordingly China is now first in iron ore
production in the world. Its annual production of iron ore is about 520 million tons.
China has large iron ore deposits, of which the Manchurian deposits are the most
actively mined. Other important regions are the Lower Chang (Yangtze) at
Maanshan and Tayeh, the Chungking area, and around Taiyuan. Scattered deposits
occur in the peninsula, north of Baotou (Paotow), border of Xinjiang (Sinking), at
Kiuchure, in the lower Xi Jiang (Si Kang), near Guangzhou (Canton), and on the
island of Hainan in the south.
2. Brazil: Brazil is the world’s second largest iron ore the world’s total production.
Till 1975 its percentage in world production of iron ore was 9.2. The main iron ore-
producing areas are located in Itabiria in south east Brazil .Itabiria is believed to be
the richest iron ore reserves in the world with eatimted reserves of 35,000 metric
tons. Brazil’s other important areas of iron ore are: Urucum, Catalao Ipanema. The
Carajas iron ore reserve is now identified as one of the main reserves of Brazil.
Largely due to the output of this region, Brazil now leads the world in iron ore
exports.
3. Australia: Australia produced 270 million metric tons of iron ore in 2007 and
ranks third in world production with 15.98 per cent production. Australia has widely
distributed iron ore deposits and reserves which are very large. The recent working
of vast iron ore fields in Western Australia at Mt. Gold Worthy , Mt. Whaleback,
Mt. Bruce, Mt. Tom Price, and at Yami Sound has greatly increased production. In
Southern Australia, the largest deposit occurs in Iron Knob, Iron Monark, etc.
Australia exports most of its iron ore to Japan and European countries.
4. India: India is the fourth largest producer of iron ore in the world. On an
average, India produces about 7 per cent of the world production. It has about 2.6
per cent iron ore reserves of the world.
• Chhattisgarh: Arindogi, Raoghat and Bailadia (Bastar), Dhalli — Rajbara (Durg),
etc.
• Odisha: Keonjbar, Mayurbhanj and Diringburi districts.
• Karnataka: Babudan hill, Hospet, Chitradurg, Tumkur, Sandur and Bellary
districts.
• Jharkhand: Noamundi, Notaburu, Pansiraburu, Budaburu, Guo, Barajamada,
Meghahataburu in Singhblim district.
• Andhra Pradesh: Anantpur, Kurmool, Adilabed, Karimnegct, etc.
• Goa: Bicholim, Sirigao, Mapusa, Netarlim, etc.
• Maharashtra: Pipalagoon, Asola, Lohara in Chandrapura district.
Mostly India’s ore deposits are concentrated in the north-east of peninsular India in
the states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. Other fields have been discovered
in many parts of the country; among them Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka iron ore
mines are notable. India also exports large amount of iron ore through Paradip,
Muruagao and Vishakhapatnam ports to Japan, Poland, UK, etc.
5. Russia: The undivided USSR was the leading iron ore-producing country in the
world. As shown in Table 8.1, in 1960 and 1975, the production of USSR was 21.2
and 25.4 per cent respectively of the world. But, in 2000 and 2006, it was 6.3 and
6.21 per cent respectively. Now, Russia ranks fifth in iron ore-producing countries
of the world. The yearly production of Russia is about 105 million metric tons. The
three main areas of iron ore in Russia are:
(i) Ural Region: This region is having a high-grade ore and produces about 25 per
cent of the country’s total. Magnitogorsk, Novotrotsk, Zlaloust, Nizny Taghil and
Seerow are the main areas of this region.
(ii) Moscow: Tula region also known as Kursk Magnetic Anomaly is having large
reserve of iron ore. This region produces high-grade iron ore. Orel and Veroneth are
two major areas of this region.
(iii) North-West Russia: In this region Murmansk and Kovador are significant
mining areas of iron ore. In Russia, most of the iron exploitation and associated
industrial development is concentrated near Moscow. Many rich deposits were
found in Siberia also.
6. Ukraine: Ukraine is the sixth leading producer of iron ore in the world and it
produced 4.32 per cent of the world production in 2006. Krivoi Rog of Ukraine
possesses best iron ore having 68.5 per cent metallic percentage. It contributes 75
per cent production of Ukraine. The estimated reserves of the region are more than
200 million tons. Other regions of Ukraine are Zaporozhe, Zdanow, Lipetsk and
Kerch Peninsula.
7. USA: Once USA was the highest iron ore-producing country of the world. As
indicated in Table 8.1, the percentage of world production of iron ore was 18.1 in
1960 and 9.8 in 1975. But now it produces less than 4 per cent of the world’s
production and ranks 7th. The four main iron ore-producing regions of USA are Lake
Superior region, north-eastern region, southeastern region and western region.
(i) Lake Superior Region: In this region haematite iron ore occurs as long low ridge,
the most important of which is the Mesabi Range. Other deposits occur in the
Vermilion, Cuguna, Gogebic, Menominee and Marquette ranges. This region
comprises north-eastern Minnesota, Michigan and southeastern Wisconsin states.
(ii) North-eastern Region :Mainly magnetite ores are mined in the Adirondacks
region of New York and the Cornwall area of Pennsylvania. They have the
advantage of a central location near the industrial cities of New York and Pittsburgh.
(iii) South-eastern Region: This region, centred at Birmingham, Alabama, produces
both hematite and limonite ores. It is favourably located near the coalfields of the
southern Appalachians and serves the iron and steel industry of Birmingham.
(iv) Western Region: This includes many scattered fields in western USA in the
states of Utah, Nevada, Wyoming and California. The ores are transported to the
steelworks at San Francisco, Los Angeles, Pueblo, Colorado and Provo, Utah
. 8. South Africa: South Africa emerged as a leading iron ore-producing country of
the African continent and ranks 8th in the world iron ore production. In South Africa
Transvaal is the main iron oreproducing centre.Transvaal is having high-grade ore
with 60 to 65 per cent iron content. The total reserves have been estimated at 10
billion tons in South Africa. The average annual production of South Africa is 4
million metric tons.
9. Canada: Canada produces 1.95 per cent of the total world production of iron ore
in 2006. Canada has iron ore in the Lake Superior region, as does the USA. The main
centres are Schefferville and Wabush City. The iron field covers some 51,800 sq km
and is estimated to have 400 million tons of iron reserves. Ore is taken by rail to Sept
Isles on the Gulf of St. Lawrence and shipped via St. Lawrence Seaway and Great
Lakes to Canadian and US steel-making centres.
10. Sweden: Sweden is a major iron ore producer in Europe and ranks 10th in the
world production. It produces 1.42 per cent of the total iron ore production in 2006.
The major iron ore mines of Sweden are located at Kiruna, Malmberget, Dannemore,
Grangeberg, Falun, Fargesta, etc. The ore is having high grade magnetite iron, in
which iron content is 65 per cent. Sweden used to export about 80 per cent of its
production to its neighbouring European countries
11. United Kingdom: In the 19th century Great Britain was the leading producer
of iron ore of the world but now it is no more in prominence and most of its ores
have been exhausted. The area of eastern England is the most important in output of
iron ore stretching from Yorkshire through Lincolnshire, Rutland, and
Northamptonshire. UK is now a major iron ore importing country.
12. France: The major producing areas of France are Lorraine, Normandy and
Pyrenees. The Lorraine district supplies about 95 per cent of country’s total. Though
the metallic content of the ores is about 35 per cent on the average, it can be smelted
at a low cost because of calcium carbonate content in the ore. It is the largest single
ore-body reserve in Europe. It helped much in setting up steel plants in France.
13. Germany: The major iron ore-producing areas of Germany are located in West
Germany, these are: Saar Vogelsburg, Erzeburg and Westphalia. Germany has
considerable reserves of medium quality of ore located in the eastern part of Rhine
valley, Siege and Lahn river valley.
14. Spain: The main areas of iron ore in Spain are Bilbao, Oviedo and Santander of
Iberian Peninsula.
15. Africa: In Africa, apart from South Africa, other countries having iron ore
mining are Tunisia,Algeria, Morocco, Liberia and Mauritania. Mauritania is the 15th
iron ore-producing country of the world, which has produced 0.65 per cent iron ore
of the world in 2006.
16. Asia: There are many areas in Asia, apart from China and India, which are
having iron ore and also produce a limited quantity. The most notable ones are Iran
and Kazakhstan, which rank 12th and 13th respectively in the world. North Korea,
Taiwan, Malaysia and Philippines also produce iron ore
17. Latin America: In Latin America, Mexico, Venezuela, Chili and Peru are the
iron ore-producing countries, other than Brazil. Mexico ranks 14th in world
production and its share was 0.77 per cent in 2006. Venezuela has rich iron ore
reserve in the Guiana Highlands at Cerro Bolivar and El Pau. Chile exploits deposits
around Algarroba in Central Chile and Peru has mines in the Nazca Marcona area.
