Question

Which of the following Iron ores is mined at Bailadila?
1. Hematite
2. Siderite
3. Limonite
4. Magnetite
5. None of the above/More than one of the above

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 1 : Hematite

The correct answer is Hematite.

• Hematite:
  •  Hematite is one of the most abundant minerals on Earth's surface and in the shallow crust.
  • It is an iron oxide with a chemical composition of Fe2O3.
  • It is a common rock-forming mineral found in sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks at locations throughout the world.
  • Hematite is the most important ore of iron.
  • The most important deposits of hematite are sedimentary in origin.
  • The world’s largest production (nearly 75 million tons of hematite annually) comes from a sedimentary deposit in the Lake Superior district in North America.
  • Other important deposits include those at Minas Gerais, Brazil (where the hematite occurs in metamorphosed sediments); Cerro Bolívar, Venezuela; and Labrador and Quebec, Canada.
  • Hematite is found as an accessory mineral in many igneous rocks; commonly as a weathering product of siderite, magnetite, and other iron minerals; and almost universally as a pigmenting agent of sedimentary and other rocks.
• ​Major Iron Mines in India:
  • Bailadila Iron Ore - Chhattisgarh
  • Dalli Rajhara - Chhattisgarh
  • Vyasanakere Mines - Karnataka
  • Mayurbhanj - Odisha
  • Ratnagiri - Maharashtra
  • Gua - Jharkhand
     

• Iron ores and their Formulas:

Iron ores	Formulas
Hematite	Fe2O3
Siderite	FeCO3
Limonite	FeO(OH)·nH2O
Magnetite	Fe3O4

• Siderite:
  • Siderite, also called chalybite, iron carbonate (FeCO₃), a widespread mineral that is an ore of iron.
  • The mineral commonly occurs in thin beds with shales, clay, or coal seams (as sedimentary deposits) and in hydrothermal metallic veins (as gangue, or waste rock).
  • Manganese (Mn), magnesium (Mg), and calcium generally substitute in part for iron; siderite forms a complete solid-solution (chemical replacement) series with magnesite (MgCO₃), another with rhodochrosite (MnCO₃), and an incomplete one with ferroan calcite.
• Limonite:
  • Limonite, one of the major iron minerals, hydrated ferric oxide (FeO(OH)·nH₂O).
  • It was originally considered one of a series of such oxides.
  • The name limonite properly should be restricted to impure hydrated iron oxide (with variable water content) that is colloidal, or amorphous, in character.
  • Often brown and earthy, it is formed by alteration of other iron minerals.
  • It probably bears the same relationship to iron oxides that wad and gummite due to manganese and uranium oxides.
• Magnetite:
  • Magnetite, also called lodestone, or magnetic iron ore, iron oxide mineral (FeFe₃O₄, or Fe₃O₄) that is the chief member of one of the series of the spinel group.
  • Minerals in this series form black to brownish, metallic, moderately hard octahedrons and masses in igneous and metamorphic rocks and in granite pegmatites, stony meteorites, and high-temperature sulphide veins.
  • The magnetite series also contains magnesioferrite (magnesium iron oxide, MgFe₃O₄), franklinite (zinc-iron oxide, ZnFe2O₄), jacobsite (manganese iron oxide, MnFe₂O₄), and trevorite (nickel-iron oxide, NiFe₂O₄).