Major Minerals
IRON ORE :
- India has the largest reserve of iron ore in Asia.
- Four kinds of iron ores are found here – magnetite, haematite, limonite and siderite.
Of them haematite and magnetite are major ores.
- Magnetite –
- It is the best kind of iron ore which contains up to 72 % metal in it. It is black in
colour. It contains 60 - 70 % metal. - Much of the Indian iron ore (two-third) is of this category. It is found mainly in
Singhbhum (Jharkhand), Mayurbhanj, Kendujhar, Sundergarh (Orissa), Karnataka,
Goa etc.
- Limonite -
- It is often yellow in color. It contains 10 - 40 % metal. This type of iron ore is found in
Raniganj are of West Bengal.
- Siderite –
- There are more impurities in it. It contains metal up to 48 %. It is brown in colour. It
has the mixture of iron and carbon. Limonite and siderite are low grade iron ores.