The largest iron ore deposit. Iron ore mining in the world

The iron content in industrial ores is from 16 to 72%. Among the useful impurities are Ni, Co, Mn, W, Mo, Cr, V, etc., among the harmful ones are S, R, Zn, Pb, As, Cu. iron ores by genesis are subdivided into, and (see map).

Basic iron ores

Industrial types of iron ores are classified according to the predominant ore mineral. Magnetite ores are composed of magnetite (sometimes magnesian - magnomagnetite, often martitized - converted into hematite during oxidation). They are most typical for carbonatite, skarn and hydrothermal deposits. Apatite and baddeleyite are simultaneously extracted from carbonatite deposits, and cobalt-containing pyrite and sulfides of non-ferrous metals are extracted from skarn deposits. Complex (Fe-Ti-V) titanomagnetite ores of magmatic deposits represent a special variety of magnetite ores. Hematite ores, composed mainly of hematite and to a lesser extent magnetite, are widespread in the weathering crust of ferruginous quartzites (martite ores), in skarn, hydrothermal, and volcanogenic-sedimentary ores. Rich hematite ores contain 55-65% Fe and up to 15-18% Mn. Siderite ores are subdivided into crystalline siderite ores and clayey spar iron ores; they are often magnesian (magnosiderites). They are found in hydrothermal, sedimentary and volcanogenic-sedimentary deposits. The average Fe content in them is 30-35%. After firing siderite ores, as a result of removing CO 2, fine-porous iron oxide concentrates are obtained, containing 1-2%, sometimes up to 10% Mn. In the oxidation zone, siderite ores are transformed into brown iron ores. Silicate iron ores are composed of ferruginous chlorites (leptochlorite, etc.), sometimes accompanied by iron hydroxides. They form sedimentary deposits. Their average Fe content is 25-40%. The admixture of sulfur is insignificant, phosphorus up to 1%. They often have an oolitic texture. In the weathering crust, they turn into brown, sometimes into red (hydrohematite) iron ore. Brown iron ore is composed of iron hydroxides, most often hydrogoethite. They form sedimentary deposits (marine and continental) and weathering crust deposits. Sedimentary ores often have an oolitic texture. The average Fe content in ores is 30-35%. Brown iron ore deposits of some deposits (Bakalskoe in the CCCP, Bilbao in Spain, etc.) contain up to 1-2% Mn and more. Naturally alloyed brown iron ores formed in the weathering crusts of ultrabasic rocks contain 32-48% Fe, up to 1% Ni, up to 2% Cr, hundredths of a percent Co, V. Chromium-nickel cast iron and low-alloy steel are smelted from such ores without additives. (, ferruginous) - poor and medium in iron content (12-36%) metamorphosed iron ores, composed of thin alternating quartz, magnetite, hematite, magnetite-hematite and siderite interlayers, in places with an admixture of silicates and carbonates. They are characterized by a low content of harmful impurities (S and R are hundredths of a percent). Deposits of this type usually have unique (over 10 billion tons) or large (over 1 billion tons) ore reserves. Silica is carried out in the weathering crust, and large deposits of rich hematite-martite ores appear.

The largest reserves and volumes of mining are in the Precambrian ferruginous quartzites and the rich iron ores formed on them, less common are sedimentary brown iron ores, as well as skarn, hydrothermal and carbonatite magnetite ores.

Iron ore beneficiation

Distinguish between rich (over 50% Fe) and poor (less than 25% Fe) ores that require. For the qualitative characteristics of high-grade ores, the content and ratio of nonmetallic impurities (slag-forming components), expressed by the basicity coefficient and flint modulus, are of great importance. In terms of the value of the basicity coefficient (the ratio of the sum of the contents of calcium and magnesium oxides to the sum of silicon oxides and) iron ores and their concentrates are divided into acidic (less than 0.7), self-fluxing (0.7-1.1) and basic (more than 1.1 ). The best are self-fluxing ores: acidic ores, in comparison with basic ones, require the introduction of an increased amount of limestone (flux) into the blast furnace charge. In terms of the flint modulus (the ratio of the contents of silicon oxide to aluminum oxide), the use of iron ores is limited to types of ores with a modulus below 2. Poor ores requiring concentration include titanomagnetite, magnetite, and magnetite quartzites with a magnetite Fe content of more than 10-20%; martite, hematite and hematite quartzites with Fe content of more than 30%; siderite, hydrogoethite and hydrogoethite-leptochlorite ores with an Fe content of more than 25%. The lower limit of the total and magnetite Fe contents for each deposit, taking into account its scale, mining technical and economic conditions, is established by conditions.

Ores requiring beneficiation are subdivided into easy and refractory ores, which depends on their mineral composition and textural and structural features. The easy-dressing ores include magnetite ores and magnetite quartz, the refractory-iron ores, in which iron is associated with cryptocrystalline and colloidal formations, in which, during grinding, it is not possible to open ore minerals due to their extremely small size and fine germination with non-metallic minerals. The choice of enrichment methods is determined by the mineral composition of ores, their textural and structural features, as well as the nature of nonmetallic minerals and the physical and mechanical properties of ores. Magnetite ores are concentrated magnetically. The use of dry and wet magnetic separation ensures the production of conditioned concentrates even with a relatively low iron content in the original ore. In the presence of industrial hematite in ores, along with magnetite, magnetic flotation (for finely disseminated ores) or magnetic-gravity (for coarsely disseminated ores) are used. If the magnetite ores contain industrial quantities of apatite or sulfides, copper and zinc, boron minerals and others, then flotation is used to extract them from the magnetic separation waste. The enrichment schemes for titanomagnetite and ilmenite-titanomagnetite ores include multistage wet magnetic separation. In order to isolate ilmenite into titanium concentrate, the waste of wet magnetic separation is enriched by flotation or gravity, followed by magnetic separation in a high-intensity field.

The enrichment schemes for magnetite quartzites include crushing, grinding and magnetic enrichment in a weak field. Enrichment of oxidized ferruginous quartzites can be done by magnetic (in a strong field), firing magnetic and flotation methods. For the enrichment of hydrogoethite-leptochlorite oolitic brown iron ores, the gravitational or gravitational-magnetic (in a strong field) method is used; research is also underway to enrich these ores by the roasting method. Clay hydrogoethite and (boulder) ores are enriched by washing. Enrichment of siderite ores is usually achieved by roasting. When processing ferruginous quartzites and skarn-magnetite ores, concentrates with a Fe content of 62-66% are usually obtained; in conditioned concentrates of wet magnetic separation from apatite-magnetite and magnomagnetite iron ores not less than 62-64%; for electrometallurgical processing concentrates are produced with Fe content not less than 69.5%, SiO 2 not more than 2.5%. Concentrates of gravitational and gravitational-magnetic enrichment of oolitic brown iron ore are considered conditional with an Fe content of 48-49%; As the beneficiation methods improve, the requirements for ore concentrates increase.

Most of the iron ore is used to smelt pig iron. A small amount serves as natural paints (ocher) and weighting agents for drilling muds.

Iron ore reserves

In terms of iron ore reserves (balance - over 100 billion tons), the CCCP ranks 1st in the world. The largest reserves of iron ore in the CCCP are concentrated in Ukraine, in the central regions of the RSFSR, in northern Kazakhstan, in the Urals, in western and eastern Siberia. Of the total amount of explored iron ore reserves, 15% are rich, not requiring enrichment, 67% are enriched using simple magnetic circuits, 18% are requiring complex enrichment methods.

KHP, DPRK and CPB possess significant reserves of iron ore, sufficient for the development of their own ferrous metallurgy. see also

Right in the middle of the quarry there is a mountain with barren rock, around which all the ore containing iron was mined. Soon it is planned to blow it up in parts and take it out of the quarry.

First, I'll tell you about the quarry itself. Lebedinsky GOK is the largest Russian iron ore mining and processing enterprise and has the world's largest iron ore quarry. The plant and quarry are located in the Belgorod region, between the cities of Stary Oskol and Gubkin. View of the quarry from above. It is really huge and is growing every day. The depth of the Lebedinsky GOK quarry is 250 m from sea level or 450 m from the surface of the earth (and its diameter is 4 by 5 kilometers), underground waters constantly seep into it, and if it were not for the operation of the pumps, it filled up to the very top in a month. It is twice listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest quarry in the extraction of non-combustible minerals.

A bit of official information: Lebedinsky GOK is part of the Metalloinvest concern and is the leading producer of iron ore products in Russia. In 2011, the share of concentrate production by the plant in the total annual production of iron ore concentrate and sinter ore in Russia was 21%. A lot of all kinds of equipment are working in the quarry, but the most noticeable is of course the multi-ton Belaz and Caterpillar dump trucks.

Each year, both plants belonging to the company (Lebedinsky and Mikhailovsky GOKs) produce about 40 million tons of iron ore in the form of concentrate and sinter ore (this is not the volume of production, but enriched ore, that is, separated from waste rock). Thus, it turns out that an average of about 110 thousand tons of enriched iron ore is produced at two GOKs per day. This kid transports up to 220 tons (!) Of iron ore at a time.

The excavator gives a signal and it backs up gently. Just a few buckets and the giant's body is full. The excavator signals the signal again and the truck drives off.

Recently, Belazs were purchased with a lifting capacity of 160 and 220 tons (until now, the carrying capacity of dump trucks in the quarries was no more than 136 tons), and Hitachi excavators with a bucket capacity of 23 cubic meters are expected to arrive. (currently the maximum bucket capacity of mining excavators is 12 cubic meters).

Belaz and Caterpillar alternate. By the way, the imported dump truck transports only 180 tons. Dump trucks of such a large carrying capacity are new equipment currently supplied to the GOK as part of Metalloinvest's investment program to improve the efficiency of the mining and transport complex.

Interesting texture of the stones, pay attention. If I am not mistaken on the left, quartzite is used to extract iron from this ore. The quarry is full of not only iron ore, but also various minerals. They are generally not of interest for further processing on an industrial scale. Today, chalk is obtained from waste rock, and crushed stone is also made for construction purposes.

Every day, 133 units of basic mining equipment (30 heavy-duty dump trucks, 38 excavators, 20 burstanks, 45 traction units) work in the open-pit of Lebedinsky GOK.

Of course, I hoped to see spectacular explosions, but even if they took place that day, I still would not have been able to penetrate the territory of the quarry. Such an explosion is done once every three weeks. All safety equipment (and there are many of them) are removed from the quarry before that.

Lebedinsky GOK and Mikhailovsky GOK are the two largest iron ore mining and processing plants in Russia in terms of output. Metalloinvest possesses the world's second largest explored iron ore reserves - about 14.6 billion tons according to the international JORC classification, which guarantees about 150 years of operating period at the current production level. So the residents of Stary Oskol and Gubkin will be provided with work for a long time.

Probably noticed from the previous photographs that the weather was bad, it was raining, and there was fog in the quarry. Closer to departure, he slightly dissipated, but still not much. I stretched the photo as far as possible. The size of the quarry is certainly impressive.

Iron ore is loaded right there into railway trains, into special reinforced wagons that take the ore out of the open pit, they are called dump cars, their carrying capacity is 105 tons.

Geological layers, which can be used to study the history of the development of the Earth.

From the height of the observation deck, the giant cars seem no bigger than an ant.

Then the ore is taken to the plant, where the process of separation of waste rock by the method of magnetic separation takes place: the ore is crushed finely, then sent to a magnetic drum (separator), to which, in accordance with the laws of physics, all iron adheres, and not iron is washed off with water. After that, pellets and hot briquetted iron (HBI) are made from the obtained iron ore concentrate, which is then used for steelmaking. Hot briquetted iron (HBI) is a type of direct reduced iron (DRI). Material with a high (\u003e 90%) iron content, obtained by a technology other than blast furnace processing. It is used as a raw material for steel production. High quality (with a small amount of harmful impurities) substitute for cast iron and scrap metal. Unlike pig iron, no coal coke is used in HBI production. The briquetted iron production process is based on the processing of iron ore raw materials (pellets) at high temperatures, most often by means of natural gas.

You can't just go inside the HBI plant, because the process of baking hot briquetted pies takes place at a temperature of about 900 degrees, and sunbathing in Stary Oskol was not part of my plans).

Lebedinsky GOK is the only HBI producer in Russia and the CIS. The plant began production of this type of product in 2001 by launching a HBI production plant (HBI-1) using HYL-III technology with a capacity of 1.0 million tons per year. In 2007, LGOK completed the construction of the second stage of the HBI production plant (HBI-2) using MIDREX technology with a production capacity of 1.4 million tonnes per year. Currently, the production capacity of LGOK is 2.4 million tons of HBI per year.

After the quarry, we visited the Oskol electrometallurgical plant (OEMK), which is part of the company's metallurgical segment. In one of the workshops of the plant, such steel billets are produced. Their length can reach from 4 to 12 meters, depending on the wishes of the customers.

See a sheaf of sparks? At that point, a bar of steel is cut.

An interesting machine with a bucket is called a bucket loader, slag is poured into it during the production process.

In the neighboring workshop, OEMK grinds and polishes steel rods of various diameters, rolled in another workshop. By the way, this mill is the seventh largest enterprise in Russia for the production of steel and steel products. In 2011, the share of steel production at OEMK amounted to 5% of the total volume of steel produced in Russia, the share of rolled products was also 5%.

OEMK uses advanced technologies, including direct reduction of iron and electric arc smelting, which ensures the production of high quality metal with a reduced content of impurities.

The main consumers of OEMK metal products on the Russian market are enterprises of the automotive, machine-building, pipe, hardware and bearing industries.

OEMK's metal products are exported to Germany, France, USA, Italy, Norway, Turkey, Egypt and many other countries.

The plant has mastered the production of long products for the manufacture of products used by the world's leading car manufacturers.

By the way, this is not the first time I have noticed women - crane operators at such industries.

At this plant, almost sterile cleanliness, not typical for such industries.

I like the neatly folded steel rods.

At the request of the customer, a sticker is glued to each product.

The sticker is stamped with the heat number and steel grade code.

The opposite end can be marked with paint, and tags with the contract number, country of destination, steel grade, heat number, size in millimeters, supplier name and weight of the package are attached to each package to the finished products.

These products are the standards by which precision rolling equipment is adjusted.

And this machine can scan the product and detect microcracks and defects before the metal reaches the customer.

The company takes safety seriously.

All water used in production is purified by the most recently installed ultra-modern equipment.

This is a wastewater treatment plant for the plant. After processing, it is cleaner than in the river where it is dumped.

Industrial water, almost distilled. Like any technical water, you cannot drink it, but you can try it once, it is not dangerous to health.

The next day we went to Zheleznogorsk, located in the Kursk region. It is there that Mikhailovsky GOK is located. The picture shows the complex of the roasting machine No. 3 under construction. Pellets will be produced here.

$ 450 million will be invested in its construction. The enterprise will be built and put into operation in 2014.

This is the layout of the mill.

Then we went to the open pit of the Mikhailovsky GOK. The depth of the open pit of the MGOK is more than 350 meters from the surface of the earth, and its size is 3 by 7 kilometers. There are actually three quarries on its territory, this can be seen in the satellite image. One large and two smaller. In about 3-5 years, the quarry will grow so much that it will become one big single, and possibly catch up with the Lebedinsky quarry in size.

The quarry employs 49 dump trucks, 54 traction units, 21 diesel locomotives, 72 excavators, 17 drilling rigs, 28 bulldozers and 7 motor graders. Otherwise, ore mining at MGOK does not differ from LGOK.

This time, we still managed to get to the plant, where iron ore concentrate is converted into the final product - pellets .. Pellets are lumps of crushed ore concentrate. Semi-finished product of metallurgical iron production. It is a product of concentration of iron-bearing ores by special concentrating methods. It is used in blast-furnace production to produce pig iron.

For the production of pellets, iron ore concentrate is used. To remove mineral impurities, the original (raw) ore is finely ground and enriched in various ways. The process of making pellets is often referred to as "pelletizing". The charge, that is, a mixture of finely ground concentrates of iron-containing minerals, flux (additives that regulate the composition of the product), and strengthening additives (usually bentonite clay), is moistened and pelletized in rotating bowls (granulators) or pelletizing drums. They are the most in the picture.

Let's come closer.

As a result of pelletizing, close to spherical particles with a diameter of 5 ÷ 30 mm are obtained.

It's quite interesting to watch the process.

Then the pellets are directed along the belt to the firing body.

They are dried and fired at temperatures of 1200 ÷ 1300 ° C in special installations - firing machines. Firing machines (usually of the conveyor type) are a conveyor of firing carts (pallets) that move along rails. But the picture shows the concentrate, which will soon fall into the drums.

In the upper part of the burning machine, above the burning carts, there is a heating furnace, in which gaseous, solid or liquid fuel is burned and a heat carrier is formed for drying, heating and burning the pellets. A distinction is made between roasting machines with pellet cooling directly on the machine and with an external cooler. Unfortunately, we did not see this process.

The fired pellets acquire high mechanical strength. Firing removes a significant portion of the sulfur contamination. This is what a ready-to-eat product looks like).

Despite the fact that the equipment has been in service since Soviet times, the process is automated and does not require a large number of personnel to control it.

Due to its unique properties - malleability, strength, ductility - the metal is widely used by any industry throughout the world. The raw materials for its manufacture are iron-containing minerals.

Stocks in the world

There are deposits of iron-bearing minerals on every continent. Their resources are distributed as follows (in descending order):

European states.
Countries of Asia.
African continent: South Africa, Algeria, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Gabon.
South and North America.

Iron ore deposits have been found in the territories of 98 states. Today their real figure is 212 billion tons. But scientists believe that the world's deposits of this strategic raw material can be estimated at 790 billion tons.

As a percentage, iron ore reserves in the countries of the world are distributed as follows:

Ukraine - 18%.
Russia - 16%.
Brazil - 13%.
Australia - 11%.
China - 13%.
India - 4%.
The rest is 25%.

Ore beds vary in iron content. They are rich (more than 50% Fe), ordinary (25-50%), poor (less than 25%). Therefore, in terms of iron content, their reserves are distributed differently:

Russia - 19%.
Brazil - 18%.
Australia - 14%.
Ukraine - 11%.
China - 9%.
India - 4%.
The rest is 25%.

Of all mined iron-bearing minerals, 87% are of low quality (iron content 16–40%). Such raw materials require enrichment. Russia produces only 12% of high quality ferruginous compounds, with an iron content of over 60%. The highest quality raw materials for metallurgy are mined on the Australian mainland (64% Fe).

It is estimated that at the current level of ore mining, the iron supply of the world economy will be 250 years.

Largest deposits

Of all countries in the world, the richest iron ore reserves are in the Russian Federation. They are concentrated in several regions.

Kursk magnetic anomaly. This is a huge iron ore region on a global scale. Several powerful fields are located here. One of them - Lebedinskoye (14.6 billion tons) - was twice entered into the Guinness Book of Records for its size and output.

And also less affluent regions:

Ural.
Kola ore region.
Karelia.
Western Siberia.

Besides Russia, large deposits are located on the territory:

Australia (Iron Knob, Western Australian).
USA (Verkhneozernoe).
Canada (Newfoundland, Labrador).
South Africa (Transvaal).
India (Singbhum).
Sweden (Mount Kirunavaare).
China (near the city of Anshan).

Ukraine has significant reserves of iron ore - more than 21 billion tons. There are 3 deposits here - Krivorozhskoe, Beloretskoe and Kremenchugskoe. The latter has deposits with a low iron content. Moreover, they contain many harmful impurities. High quality iron ore is mined in the other two deposits.

Rich ferrous compounds (up to 68% Fe) are mined in Venezuela. The resource of the country is 2,200 million tons. The Brazilian deposits Karajas and Urukum contain more than ten billion tons of rich deposits (50–69% Fe). About 3,000 million tons of ordinary brown iron ore lies on the island. Cuba.

In the United States, there are huge deposits of ferruginous quartzites, which require substantial concentration.

Rating of countries in the world for the extraction of iron ore for 2017

Ore is mined in more than 50 countries. The industry leaders are China, Australia, Brazil, Russia, India. Together, they extract 80% of all iron-bearing minerals.

The volume of the iron mining industry all over the world is increasing from year to year, but they do not fully cover the needs of mankind. Many countries with developed mining and metallurgical industries do not have enough of their own iron ore resources, and they are forced to buy it abroad.

The largest importers are South Korea, Japan, the USA, and the EU countries. Even the Celestial Empire - a republic that ranks 1st in the world in ore mining - is forced to import it. The largest export of iron ore raw materials is Australia, Brazil and India.

To illustrate how the iron ore industry is developing, a comparative table for ore production per year (million tons) is presented:

The Indian iron ore industry has grown steadily. It is assumed that by 2020 its indicators will increase by 35%.

Among all the mining companies in the world, 3 ore giants occupy a fundamental place:

BHP Billiton, the largest Australian-British company.
Vale S. A. (Brazilian company).
Rio Tinto, a multinational corporation.

They carry out mining in many countries, own power plants, plants for the enrichment of iron ore minerals and smelting steel, carry out rail and sea transportation using their own transport, set world prices for raw materials.

The raw material base of each metallurgical region has its own specific features, which largely determine the technology of the entire cycle of a metallurgical plant and its economy. As we said in the section “What is iron ore? ”, The reserves of iron ore on our planet are estimated at about 150 billion tons, and the richest countries in terms of iron are: Russia, Brazil, Australia, Ukraine, China, India and the USA.

Initially, we will consider the most significant deposits iron ore in Ukraine.

Krivoy Rog deposit in the area of \u200b\u200bKrivoy Rog gives. Ore, concentrate obtained locally and produced pellets are used at the Krivoy Rog metallurgical plant, and are also exported abroad. The ore occurs at a depth of up to 500 m, but quartzites come to the surface. Therefore, development is carried out in both open and closed ways. The reserves of high-grade ores (hematites and martites) are estimated at 1.2 billion tons, and quartzites (magnetite and oxidized hematite) - up to 18 billion tons.

Open pit iron ore mining

The average iron content in the ore is about 55%, and in the mined magnetite quartzite - 35-37%. Waste rock consists almost exclusively of silica. The ore does not contain harmful impurities. High-grade ore is crushed on site and sorted by particle size. Fraction 0-10 mm is sent to agglomeration, and\u003e 10 mm - directly to the blast furnace shops. Magnetite quartzites are concentrated by magnetic separation. From the concentrate containing about 65% iron, sinter, pellets are produced or sent to metallurgical plants. The Kremenchugskoye field, located northeast of the Krivorozhskoye field, is its continuation. It contains 1.1 billion tons of magnetite quartzites containing about 30% iron, which are enriched at the Poltava GOK built here to 65% iron, and pellets are produced from the concentrate.

Beloretskoye field, located near the city of Zaporozhye, is represented by rich hematite ores containing about 63% iron. The reserves amount to 500 million tons. The Zaporozhye GOK located here processes the mined ore, after which it sends it directly to the factories.

Kerch field brown iron ore reserves about 2 billion tons. The ore is an oolitic (granular) brown iron ore, containing 34-39% iron. Low iron content, high content of harmful impurities (about 1% phosphorus, 0.05-0.15% arsenic) and difficulties in beneficiation have led to the fact that this deposit is currently not used.

Russia is the richest country in iron ore, and Kursk magnetic anomaly, the largest iron ore region in the world. The magnetic anomaly of this region, which has a width of 50-100 km, a length of 400-600 km. is caused by a thick stratum of steeply dipping quartzite layers, which represent practically inexhaustible reserves of iron. The ore layers are located at a depth of 35-580 m.The recorded reserves of the Kursk magnetic anomaly exceed 40 billion tons, and the prospective ones - up to 200 billion tons. The main reserves of the deposit are represented by quartzites, mainly magnetite, containing 35-40% Fe, and rich in hematite -martite ores containing 50-61% Fe. In addition, these ores contain 0.1-0.6% S, 0.02-0.09% P and 10-20% hygroscopic moisture.

A negative feature of waste rock is an increased (up to 2.5-3.5%) content of alumina, which worsens the properties of the slag. The largest deposits are Mikhailovskoe (near the city of Kursk), Lebedinskoe and Stoilenskoe (near the town of Gubkin). They are mined by the open-cut method, quartzite is enriched, pellets are produced from the concentrate at the GOK, part of the concentrate is sent directly to the plants.

The photo shows

We also bring to your attention a short video about the work of Stoilensky GOK, so that you can imagine how the extraction and further processing of iron ore occurs.

The Yakovlevskoe, Gostishchevskoe and others deposits located near the city of Belgorod are promising, the reserves of which amount to about 25 billion tons of rich hematite-martite ores, which, however, occur at depths of about 500 m.

There are several iron ore deposits in the Murmansk region and Karelia, which are the base of the Cherepovets metallurgical plant.

Olenegorskoye fieldlocated to the south of Murmansk, consists of ferruginous quartzites containing about 31% iron. Its reserves are about 600 million tons. They are enriched locally by the magnetic-gravity method at Olenegorsk GOK to a content of 62% Fe, the concentrate is supplied to sinter plants.

The photo shows

Eno-Kovdorskoye field, located to the west of Olenegorsk, is represented by magnetite quartzites containing 31-32% Fe, has a thickness of about 500 million tons. Its peculiarity is the main waste rock with a basicity index of 1.6 and a high phosphorus content, which decreases after magnetic enrichment at the Kovdor GOK from 2.7-2.9% only to 0.18-0.20%. The concentrate containing 64-65% Fe is sent to the plants for agglomeration.

Kostamuksha field magnetite quartzite with a capacity of about 1.2 billion tons is located in the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, on the border with Finland. Quartzites containing 30-35% Fe, about 0.07% P and 0.2% S are enriched at the GOK built here to a content of 63-65% Fe, and pellets are produced from them and sent to the Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant.

Kachkanarskoye field titanomagnetite is located north of the city of Nizhniy Tagil, has reserves of about 12 billion tons. The extremely low iron content (only 16-17%) in the process of enrichment increases to 61%. The ore contains about 0.15% vanadium, which is an important feature. Kachkanarsky GOK produces sinter and pellets and supplies them to Nizhne-Tagil Metallurgical Plant.

The initial base of this plant was the deposits of the Tagilo-Kushvinsky iron ore region, which by now are practically depleted.

Magnitogorsk field magnetite ores, which played a huge role in the development of the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, has also been depleted due to long-term intensive exploitation.

To the south of Novokuznetsk, there is the Gorno-Shorsky iron ore region formed by Temir-Tauskim, Odrabashsky, Tashtagolsky and other deposits of magnetite and martite ores containing 30-49% Fe. A distinctive feature of some ores is the presence of zinc (0.1-1.1%), high sulfur content. The reserves are estimated at 200 million tons. Ores and concentrates are sintered at the concentrating and sintering factories, the agglomerate is sent to the Novokuznetsk and West Siberian metallurgical plants. However, their main base is the Abakan and Teya deposits located east of Novokuznetsk, in Khakassia. Their reserves amount to about 2 billion tons of magnetite ores.

A number of large iron ore deposits are located in Eastern Siberia.

Nizhneangarskoye, Ishimbinskoye and other deposits are located to the north of Krasnoyarsk in the Angara-Pitsky iron ore region. The ores of these deposits are mainly hematite, refractory, contain about 30-40% Fe, the waste rock is siliceous-alumina. The reserves of this area are about 1.4 billion tons.

To the north of Irkutsk there is a large Angara-Ilimsky iron ore region, which unites the Korshunovskoye, Rudnogorskoye and other deposits. The reserves are estimated at 900 million tons.The ore of these deposits is magnetite, contains 38-50% Fe, 0.03% S and 0.8% R.

Consider the largest foreign iron ore deposits.

The main iron ore base of ferrous metallurgy USA is the region of Lake Superior, which gives about 80% of the ore mined in the country. In this area, the largest amount of ore is mined in the Mesabi district, from which the ore got its name. Mesabi ore contains 50-52% Fe, 9-10% SiO2, 0.77% Mn, 0.09% P and about 11% moisture. The ore reserves are estimated at 1 billion tons, in addition, the deposit contains about 30 billion tons of quartzites (local name - taconites), of which about 5 billion tons are magnetite. The latter are mined and enriched from 31 to 64% Fe, then they are subjected to agglomeration or pellets. This and other deposits meet the needs of the US ferrous metallurgy only partially.

A characteristic feature of the metallurgical industry in the developed capitalist countries (USA, Japan, Germany, etc.) is the import of large quantities of iron ore and pellets from large deposits of the world, usually located in developing countries. The high quality of these ores, the low cost of their extraction and processing, and low transportation costs ensure the efficiency of such work. Below is a brief description of the largest iron ore regions in the world.

Canada possesses significant reserves of iron ores and has a developed iron ore industry - mining, dressing and agglomeration in the form of agglomeration and pellet production. The main deposits are located in the provinces of Quebec, Newfoundland (Newfoundland Island, the Wabana deposit), etc. The reserves of the main Canadian deposits are estimated at 5.5 billion tons, of which about 3 billion tons are located in the Quebec-Labrador region. The ores of this deposit are hematite and magnetite, contain about 53% Fe, have siliceous waste rock, do not contain sulfur, but contain 0.03-1.1% R. The resulting concentrate and pellets are exported to the USA, England and Germany.

Venezuela possesses large reserves of quality ores, which are estimated at 2.2 billion tons. Hematite ores, with a very high iron content (63-68%), do not contain sulfur and phosphorus. About 20 million tons of ore is mined annually, 80% of which is sent to the United States.

Brazil has huge reserves of high quality iron ore. The reserves in the state of Minas Gerais (Itabiri and Itabirita deposits) are estimated at 16 billion tons and contain 50-60% Fe. Lump ore contains 66-69% Fe and 0.1-1.5% SiO 2, 0.5-1% A1 2 0 3.

IN Australia explored deposits with reserves of about 16 billion tons of hematite and partly limonite ores. The main deposits are located in Western Australia, near the coast. The largest Broken deposit contains about 8 billion tons of hematite and hematite-limonite ore, containing 54-69% iron. The ores mined here and the pellets produced on site are transported through the nearby ports mainly to Japan.

IN India there are significant reserves of iron ore, which amount to about 20 billion tons. The main deposits are located 300 km west of the city of Calcutta in the states of Bihar, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, form in the complex the so-called Iron Belt with total reserves of 8 billion tons of rich hematite ores. They contain 60-68% Fe, very pure in terms of sulfur and phosphorus. A negative feature of these ores is the predominance of alumina in waste rock.

Iron ore is a mineral formation, the main component of which is iron. For industrial mining suitable and economically profitable ore with a high iron content, more than 40%, the highest percentage of iron in the magnetic iron ore - 70%.

World reserves of iron ore

Iron ore mining is one of the leading sectors of the industrial complex in Russia. Despite this fact, our country produces only 5.6% of the total ore production in the world. All in all, world reserves amount to more than 160 billion tons. According to preliminary calculations, the content of pure iron can reach 80 billion tons. Distribution of iron ore reserves by country:

Map of iron ore reserves of Russia

Russian Federation - 18%;
People's Republic of China - 9%;
Australia - 14%;
Brazil - 18%;
Ukraine - 11%
Canada - 8%
USA - 7%
The rest of the countries - 15%.

Iron ores are usually distinguished by the iron content, as well as by the mineral composition (impurities). Also, ores are divided into rich in iron (more than half of the iron), ordinary (from a quarter to a half) and poor (iron content less than a quarter).

Magnetic iron ore, containing the maximum amount of iron, is mined in Russia in the Urals - in the High, Magnetic mountains; Kachkanar, Grace.

Large deposits in Sweden near the cities of Falun, Gellivar and Dannemore. In the USA, there are significant deposits in the state of Pennsylvania. In Norway - Persberg and Arendal. Russia ranks third in the world in terms of the number of ore deposits in the world. In the first place - Brazil, in the second - Australia. Iron ore reserves in Russia today amount to more than 50 billion tons.

Largest deposits

The Bakcharskoye iron ore deposit is located in the Tomsk region between two rivers - Andorma and Iksa. It is one of the largest not only in Russia, but also in the world. The reserves are estimated at 28.7 billion tons. At the moment, new technologies are being actively introduced for the field, such as conducting well hydro production, and not open pit mining, as before.

Russian iron ore deposits where mining takes place

The Kursk Magnetic Anomaly in Russia is the largest iron ore basin in the world. According to the most conservative estimates, the reserves of this deposit amount to 200 billion tons. The deposits of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly account for about half of all world reserves of iron ores. This iron ore basin is located on the territory of three regions at once: Kursk, Oryol and Belgorod. It is also customary to include the Chernyanskoye and Prioskolskoye fields in the Kursk magnetic anomaly.

The Abakan iron ore deposit is located near the city of Abaza in the Republic of Khakassia. First, opencast mining was carried out, and then underground (mines). The depth of the mines reaches 400 meters.

The Abagasskoye iron ore deposit is located in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The main ores are magnesite, high-alumina and magnesian. The field is divided into two main zones: North (2300 meters) and South (over 2600 meters). Development is carried out in an open way.

Mining methods

All mining methods can be divided into 2 main types: open (quarry) and closed (mines). The open method of mining brings more damage to the environment, in contrast to the closed method. But its application requires small capital investments. The ore, which occurs shallowly in the earth's crust (up to 500 m), is quarried.

At the initial stage, the topsoil is cut off. Further actions are aimed at excavating the rock with the help of special equipment buckets, loading it onto conveyors and delivering it to processing plants.

Iron ores of the Urals. Bakalskoe deposit

Blast technology is used in the development of quarries for easier excavation of the rock. Blasting operations are carried out using the following substances:

ammonium nitrate;
emulsified oil.

The explosion takes place in a split second and is capable of destroying large areas of rock. During blasting operations, the quality of the ore does not suffer. The largest quarry not only in Russia but throughout the world is located in the Belgorod Region, between Stary Oskol and the city of Gubkin.

It is called Lebedinsky, it was twice entered into the Guinness Book of Records for the size and volume of production - a depth of 450 m, a diameter of 5 km, it is estimated that 14.6 billion tons of iron ore lie here, about 133 units of machinery work per day, one dump truck capable of delivering up to 200 kg of ore.

A remarkable fact about this quarry is that it is subject to groundwater flooding. If they had not been pumped out, this huge quarry would have been full in a month.

However, the use of quarrying of deposits becomes impossible when the level of occurrence of useful rocks is below 500 meters. In this case, the construction of underground mines is used. Sometimes their depth reaches several kilometers. Drifts are dug underground - extensive ramifications.

Combine-type machines cut spikes into the rock, breaking it, then using loaders it is delivered to the surface.

The mining of ore by the mine method is quite costly, since it requires a certain infrastructure, as well as the creation of safe conditions for the work of people and equipment. Frequent cases of displacement of the earth's rock and collapse of mines, their flooding and other cataclysms. Therefore, this method is not used in Russia when the ore contains a small percentage of iron. Although manufacturing technologies are constantly evolving and provide opportunities for more productive processing of ores containing iron in small quantities.

Rock dressing methods

Before applying one of the beneficiation methods, the resulting ore must be crushed, since the seams can reach two meters. Further, one or more methods of enrichment are applied:

Gravity separation

flotation;
complex method.

Gravity separation is one of the best mining methods. This method has become widely used due to its low cost. Gravity separation is used to separate large and small rock particles from each other. They are used not only for iron, but also for tin, lead, zinc, platinum and gold ores. The required equipment consists of a vibrating plate, a centrifugal machine and a spiral.

The method of magnetic separation is based on the difference in magnetic properties of substances. Thanks to this property, this method becomes indispensable in production when other methods do not give the desired effect.

Magnetic separation

Magnetic separation is used to separate non-metallic impurities from iron ore. It is based on a simple law of physics - iron is attracted to a magnet, and impurities are washed off with water. Pellets or hot briquetted iron are made from raw materials obtained on magnet.

Flotation is a method of ore mining in which metal particles are combined with air bubbles due to a chemical reaction taking place. To carry out flotation separation, it is necessary that the resulting rock is homogeneous and all particles are crushed to the same size.

It is also important to consider the quality of the reagents that will interact with the required chemical element. Today, flotation is mainly used for renewal of iron ore concentrates obtained from magnetic separation. As a result, the previously mined ores provide another 50% of the metal.

Quite rarely, only one separation method is sufficient to obtain the required raw material. Most often, several methods and techniques are used in one enrichment process. The essence of the complex method is grinding, cleaning with a spiral classifier from large impurities of rocks, processing of raw materials in a magnetic separator. This routine is repeated several times until the maximum of the raw materials is produced.

After processing iron ore and obtaining metal in the form of HBI (hot briquetted iron), it is sent to an electrometallurgical plant, which produces metal blanks of standard shapes, as well as non-standard ones, according to individual orders. Sometimes steel billets can be up to 12 meters in length.

The high quality of the metal is ensured by advanced technologies for its recovery - electric arc melting, which significantly reduces the amount of impurities.

After the metallurgical plant, steel is sent to end consumers - machine-building, automobile enterprises, for the pipe, bearing and hardware industries.

Video: Iron Ore