Political and commercial geology and the world's mineral resources
Science
Political and commercial geology and the world's mineral resources
Geology, Economic; Mines and mineral resources
Iron ores are associated with many different classes of
rocks--sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic. Where associated with
sedimentary rocks the ores may be the result of direct sedimentation or
may be later replacements of sedimentary beds by magmatic or meteoric
iron-bearing waters. Many iron-ore deposits associated with sedimentary
rocks are formed by the enrichment of original iron-bearing beds,
either by solution and transportation of iron compounds or by the
removal of other associated mineral constituents.
Among those important iron-ore deposits of sedimentary origin that have
undergone little or no further enrichment since deposition, except
perhaps directly at the surface, are the iron ores of the Clinton type
of the eastern United States, the Wabana iron ores of Newfoundland, the
“minette” ores of the Lorraine district in northern France, Luxemburg,
and southern Germany, the oolitic siderite beds of the Cleveland
district in northern England, and the hematite ores of Minas Geraes in
Brazil. The most important of the sedimentary iron ores that are the
result of further enrichment since deposition are those of the Lake
Superior district in the United States.
Iron ores associated with igneous rock are mostly of deep-seated
origin, usually having been formed by solutions that accompanied or
followed the intrusion of the rocks with which the ores are associated.
These ores are of two main classes: (1) Those associated with siliceous
igneous rocks; and (2) those associated with basic igneous rocks.
The ores associated with siliceous igneous rocks consist either of
hematite or, more commonly, magnetite. They occur in granite, syenite,
and monzonite, and in gneiss derived from these by metamorphism. Many
important ore deposits in different countries belong to this class,
among them being the magnetite and hematite deposits of Swedish Lapland
and of central Sweden, the magnetite bodies of the Adirondacks and
northern New Jersey in the eastern United States, various magnetite
and hematite bodies in California and elsewhere in the western United
States, the mixed hematite and magnetite deposits of the south coast
of Cuba, most of the iron-ore bodies of Chile, and the newly developed
iron ores of Manchuria. As a class, the iron ores associated with
siliceous igneous rocks rank next in importance to iron ores of
sedimentary origin.
Iron-ore deposits associated with basic igneous rocks are nearly all of
a distinct type known as titaniferous magnetites. These ores consist
of a mixture of magnetite and ilmenite in varying proportions, and
therefore carry a variable amount of titanium. Many large ore deposits
of this class are found in different parts of the world, among the
larger ones being certain ore bodies in Wyoming, in the Adirondack
region, and elsewhere in the United States, and several deposits in
Norway and in northern and southern Sweden.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account