Well, lemme tell ya ’bout this iron stuff, the kind they dig outta the ground. They got these things called ores, right? And there’s different kinds. Folks say there’s four of ’em, but the main ones I hear about are haematite и magnetite. Sounds fancy, don’t it? But it’s just dirt with iron in it, far as I can tell.
Now, this haematite, they say it’s got the most iron in it. More than the others. They write it down like this: Fe2O3. That’s the stuff they really want, see? Makes the best iron, or so they say. Then there’s magnetite, which ain’t too shabby neither. They write that one as Fe3O4. This one’s kinda special, they say it’s got this magnet thing going on. Sticks to metal, like. I seen it myself, it’s kinda neat.
There’s this other one too, limonite. They write it all sorts of ways, but mostly it’s like FeO(OH)·nH2O. Don’t ask me what all that means, it’s just a bunch of letters and numbers to me. But it’s got iron in it, that’s what matters.
- Haematite: Fe2O3
- Magnetite: Fe3O4
- Limonite: FeO(OH)·nH2O
They get the iron outta this dirt by doing some kind of cooking with somethin’ called CO. I ain’t sure what that is, but it makes the iron come out. They write it like this: Fe2O3(s) + CO(g) ⟶ Fe(s) + CO2(g). All them letters and arrows, it’s confusing. But basically, they take the dirt, cook it up, and get the iron. Simple as that.
There’s another one they call siderite, but I ain’t heard much about that one. Seems like haematite and magnetite are the big ones. That’s what they’re always lookin’ for.
Now, why do they want all this iron anyway? Well, they use it to make all sorts of things. Tools, machines, buildings, you name it. It’s strong stuff, lasts a long time. Without it, we wouldn’t have half the things we got today, I reckon.
So there you have it, the story of iron ores. Just dirt, really, but important dirt. Don’t know why they gotta make it sound so complicated with all them formulas and whatnot. Just dig it up, cook it up, and you got iron. That’s all there is to it, far as I’m concerned.
Tags: iron ore, haematite, magnetite, limonite, Fe2O3, Fe3O4, FeO(OH), iron formula, metal, ore