What It Is:

• A high-grade iron ore powder (60–70% Fe) obtained by removing impurities such as silica and alumina from low-grade ore through crushing, grinding, and beneficiation processes like magnetic separation or flotation.

• Appearance: Fine, dark-gray powder.

How It’s Produced:

1. Mining:

   • Extracted from open-pit or underground mines.

2. Beneficiation:

   • Crushed ore is mixed with water, and magnetic separators remove impurities like silica.

   • The result is filtered and dried into concentrate powder.

3. Pelletizing (Optional):

   • The concentrate can optionally be processed further into pellets.

Applications:

• Primary use: As feedstock for iron pellet production.

• Blast Furnaces (BF): Often mixed with pellets and coke to produce pig iron.

• Direct Shipping Ore (DSO): Some high-grade concentrates are exported directly, such as from Brazil to China.

Key Producers:

• Vale (Brazil), Rio Tinto (Australia), Metinvest (Ukraine).