Iron Ore, Chromite and Steel-Making Minerals

Steel depends on a short list of raw materials, and this collection follows them from the ground to the furnace. The iron articles cover what iron is used for, how ore is extracted, graded as lump or fines and rolled into pellets, and what mining does to land, water and air. Separate pieces look at large operations and deposits such as Carajas in Brazil, Simandou in Guinea, taconite in Minnesota and the iron ore producers of Australia.

Chromite gets its own group, since chrome ore becomes ferrochrome for stainless steel and is priced off a South African benchmark. Buyers, analysts and investors will also find notes on iron pyrite prices, the Iron Mountain Mine clean-up in California and the licence dispute around AVZ Minerals in the DRC.