In addition to excavation sites, the mining sector includes all the processing facilities needed to transform mined minerals and ores into usable raw materials. Before diving into the topic, let us first understand what iron ore is:
What is Iron Ore?
Iron ore is a vital raw material for producing iron & steel. According to reliable sources, around 98% of the iron ore mined is used to make steel.
Iron ore resources are primarily divided into four categories for producing metals. These four categories are hematite, magnetite, limonite, and pyrite.
There are approximately 170 billion tonnes of iron ore deposits in the world. These reserves are mostly in Australia, Brazil, China, India, and Russia. These five nations have approximately 85% of the world’s total iron ore reserves.
What is Iron Ore Mining?
The process of removing iron from its natural form, which is present in rocks and minerals, is known as iron ore mining. The process includes the removal of the topsoil and mining out the iron ore. After that, the soil is refilled and packed to prevent runoff or waterlogging.
The next step is to drill holes into the rock to introduce explosives. Finally, the process of the explosion of iron takes place to extract it out of the rock. After that, it is gathered and brought to a neighboring steel plant where professionals use it to make steel goods.
TheProcess of Iron Ore Mining
Iron ore mining is a labor-intensive activity that takes place in far-off places all over the world. Exploration, which can be done on the surface or underground, is the first step in the process. When a deposit is found, mining is generally done in one of the below-mentioned ways.
Mining in Open Pits
The method most frequently employed to obtain iron ore is open-pit mining. Technicians use powerful machinery to excavate large trenches in the ground. Then, they transfer the iron ore subsequently to a processing facility to remove impurities by crushing and filtering.
Strip Mining
Another technique used to mine iron ore is strip mining. For this procedure to work, the professionals remove the top layer of rock and soil to access the iron ore below. Strip mining can leave the terrain with significant scars, which can be quite harmful to the ecology.
Underground Mining
It is another popular technique for extracting iron ore. To access the iron ore deposit, this procedure entails boring tunnels into the earth. Iron ore miners will take the ore out of the deposit once the tunnel reaches it and bring it back to the surface for processing.
Dust Collection for Mining and Mineral Processing
The traditional way of controlling dust involves using water trucks to spray water over dusty stockpiles and haul roads. Still, this approach uses enormous amounts of water which is certainly not environmentally friendly.
The moisture level of the ore is a crucial factor for iron ore miners when it comes to shipping and transporting the ore. The product needs to be wetted frequently as it is crushed and heaped to reduce dust. However, using too much water is not just inefficient; it can also reduce the amount of ore that can be loaded onto a ship, which lowers earnings for the iron mining companies in India.
Having a system in place to maintain optimum moisture ratios is so crucial. Finding an alternative dust control strategy is well justified by the water spent on haul routes alone.
How Does the Processing of Minerals Work?
- The initial stage of mineral processing begins with hauliers feeding the crushers with tonnes of huge boulders once the ore has been brought to the mine’s surface.
- Conveyor belts transport the materials into stockpiles close to the concentrator building after they have been crushed to a diameter of around 15 cm (6 in) for grinding.
- The miners transport the crushed rock by conveyor belt into the concentrator structure, where SAG grinding mills further reduce it. The ore is either kept dry or combined with water there before being ground. Materials are ground to a diameter of around 5 cm (2 in).
- When the previously larger materials are fed to ore-sized screens, minerals smaller than 1.3 cm (12 in) fall through the filters.
- The ball grinding mills are where the smaller ore will continue to be broken down. To reduce the size of the bigger ore to 1.3 cm (12 in), miners will send it to a pebble crusher before being returned to the SAG mill stage.
- Pumping the finished ball mill product into cyclones allows the coarse and fine ore to be separated. The fine minerals are sent to the concentration stage of mining, whilst the coarse particles are sent back to the ball mill stage.
- At the concentration stage, the required mineral is generated in a cleaner, greater concentration and is milled to a talcum powder consistency. The concentrate settles in a thickener, where the process of dewatering starts.
- The material is pumped to a filter press to further dewater the mineral ore since it is still around 50% water at this point.
- The minerals are then dried to remove the last of the water. The final mineral concentration percentage varies depending on the mineral and the concentration method used.
- The raw material is moved to a different off-site processing facility where the mineral ore is refined or smelted into the finished raw material.
Conclusion:
So these were all the necessary facts related to iron ore production in India. If you are looking to fetch iron ore from India, Sree Metaliks Limited is one of the biggest iron ore companies in the market. Their team of experts has successfully and repeatedly shown that they can meet and surpass the expectations of a wide range of clients. They are among the greatest iron ore miners in the nation, producing iron ores with utmost care while preserving the environment and reducing energy use.
Sree Metaliks Limited is a well-known iron ore company in India, and people value their mining expertise, accurate reporting, and moral character. Their productive efforts and goods attest to their national stature. With their tradition of providing quality goods, they hope to create a beneficial impact on society. For more details, visit their website today!