IRON ORE DEPOSITS
Iron:
- Iron ore is the most vital in human use.
- It consists of 5.05% of the crust & third position after silicon &
Al
- It is rarely found in native condition except in meteorites and
some eruptive rocks
- Mineralogy
Minerals Chem.comp
Oxides
Hematite Fe2O3
Magnetite Fe3O4
Limonite Fe2O3.H2O
Carbonate
Siderite FeCo3
MINERALOGY
Hematite
Fe2O3
69.9%
Steel grey to red
colour,
streak cherry- red
colour,
Sp. Gr: 5-6.
MINERALOGY
Magnetite
Fe3O4
72.4%
Blue black,
streak brown black
colour,
Sp. Gr:5.17
MINERALOGY
Limonite
Fe2O3.H2O
62%
Brown to yellow
Sp.gr: 3.3 – 4.3
MINERALOGY
Siderite
FeCo3
48.2%
Ash grey to brown
streak,
sp. Gr: 3.96
USES
Building construction
Farm equipments
Rails, railway wagons
Automobiles & ships
Domestic utensils
CLASSIFICATION OF IRON ORE DEPOSITS
Metamorphic banded deposits:
Major iron ore deposits fall in this group.
- Typically sedimentary/ metamorphic rocks
- -Bihar- Orissa belt, Bailadila (M.P) and Karnataka are
typical examples.
- - Metamorphosed equivalent of this rock is banded
magnetite quartzite (BMQ)
CLASSIFICATION OF IRON ORE DEPOSITS
Continental Sedimentary Deposits:
-Assumed to have formed from fresh water (fluvial) or
breakish (lacustrine) conditions.
- Ironstones of Ranikanj and Auranga coal fields are typical
examples.
- The ore occurs as layers of siderite in Gondwana rocks
generally altered to limonite near the surface.
CLASSIFICATION OF IRON ORE DEPOSITS
Marine sedimentary deposits such as Oolites, detrital,
placer and mixed type:
The type area is Lorrain, France.
- The Indian example is magnetite deposits of coastal regions
such as at Travancore associated with ilmenite and heavy
mineral sand.
Volcano- sedimentary deposits:
The deposits related to volcanic rocks from magmatism
The ore-bearing horizons are sub-marine and are bedded.
Insignificant minor pockets of iron-ore in Ladakh (J&K) are
the Indian example.
Liquid Magma deposits:
-formed during early crystallization of basic plutonic rocks,
mainly by gravitational differentiation.
Indian example is Titano-vanadium bearing iron-ore deposits
from Orissa.
CLASSIFICATION OF IRON ORE DEPOSITS
Intrusive magmatic deposits :
They are related to alkaline rocks of the Precambrian shields.
Apatite- magnetite rocks of Singhbhum
Contact metasomatic deposits:
These are found at the contact aureoles (circular) of granitoid
intrusions within the limestone and are widely distributed.
Main ore mineral is Magnetite.
Magnetite deposits Vishakhapatnam, A.P & Palamau, Bihar
are examples.
Polymetallic skarn (more silicate) ore deposits:
-Associated with sedimentary deposits which are later
affected by regional metamorphism.
The iron ores lie in the basal sequence of acid volcanics with
limestone, dolomite and clastic sediments.
No Indian Examples.
THE MAJOR SIX BASIC TYPES OF INDIAN IRON ORE
DEPOSITS
Banded ferruginous formation of Precambrian age: The ores
can be classified into massive, laminated.
Sedimentary iron-ores of sideritic or limonitic composition
found in coalfields of Bihar and West Bengal, Teritary
formation of Assam.
Lateritic iron Ore: Associated with Deccan trap also
widespread in the Country.
Apatite-Magnetite rocks of Singhbhum Copper belt.
Titaniferous and Vanadiferous magnetites: Singhbhum of
Bihar, Mayurbhanj of Orissa and Tumkur of Karnataka
Fault and fissure fillings of hematite: Hematite of Valdurthi
and Ramalkota in Kurnool district and also Cuddapah
district.
GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION OF IRON-ORES IN INDIA
Formation Type of Occurrences/ Deposits
Deposits
PreCambrian
Basic & Titaniferous & SE Singhbhum (Bihar), Mayurbhanj
Ultrabasic Vanadiferous (Orissa) and Tumkur, Karnataka
magnetite
Granodiorite, Apatite- Singhbhum copper belt and Mayurbhanj
Granites Magnetite rock deposits & Assam
– Magnetite
(Residual)
Banded Iron Hematites Singhbhum (Bihar), Keonjhar (Orissa),
Ore formation (Massive, Poonch (J&K), Jabalpur (M.P), Ratnagiri
Shale & (MH), Dharwar, Bellary, Shimoga &
powdery Chikmagalur, Karnataka & Goa
Banded Iron Magnetite- Gundur (A.P), Salem, Trichy (TN), Shimoga
Ore formation Quartz (Karnataka), Mandi (M.P)
(Metamorphose
d)
Gwalior Hematite & Gwalior, Indore (M.P), Haryana, Rajasthan
Cuddapah Ferruginous and A.P
Quatzite
GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION OF IRON-ORES IN INDIA
Formation Type of Occurrences/ Deposits
Deposits
Gondwana
Barakar – Ironstone Birbhum (w.bengal), & Auranga coal
Mahadeva field (Bihar)
Ironstone- Ironstone & Raniganj coal field (w. bengal)
Shale Siderite
Triassic
Sirban Hematite & Udhampur (J & K)
Limestone Limonite
Jurassic
Rajmahal Ironstone Rajmahal (Bihar) & Birbhum (W.
trap bengal)
Eocene & Ironstone NE districts of Assam, Kumaon (U.P),
Miocene Travancore and Malabar (Kerala)
Quaternary Laterite Several states of India, derived from
different formations including
Deccan Trap
