Iron Ore Extraction Methods: Open-Cut Mining & Smelting Processes

[LadySun]

Recently i have been given an assignment about mining either copper or iron ore. I picked Iron Ore and i can't seem to find much information about which process to use for extracting Iron ore.

The question on the sheet: Explain/describe what type of mining and ore processing methods you recommend - justify your choice.

So far for this question I have chosen Open-cut mining, now i need help with the rest.

my textbook says that smelting is often used in the process, and that processing consists of three parts: Concentration, Reduction and Purification.

p.s i am new to the site, so Hello :)

 

[Kushal]

hello

so the main ore of iron is hematite Fe₂O₃.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smelting

hint:

concentration will serve to put the ores together
reduction will serve to liberate the metal from its oxidised form as an ion (because most metals exist in compounds, and not as elements).
purification will serve to separate the metal from other unwanted compounds such as sulphides, carbonates,...proceed step by step and good luck