Iron-ore in Minnesota: Geology and the Industry (V)
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Virtual lecture 3:00 PM CT. ** NOTE SPECIAL EARLY TIME **
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Abstract: Since the mid-nineteenth century, iron-ore deposits in Minnesota have attracted the attention of geologists and explorers and by 1895 the Mesabi Range was producing large volumes of enriched iron-ore for the nation’s steel industry. The primary rock of interest is called the Banded Iron Formation (BIF) and it is composed of bands of red to dark-grey iron-oxide minerals such as magnetite and hematite alternating with light-grey siliceous material called chert. Although the enriched, high-grade hematite ore constituted the bulk of the mined material in the early days, the magnetite-rich rock called taconite is the major iron-ore mineral that is mined at the present time. Cleveland Cliffs and US Steel operate six iron mines in the Mesabi Range with a combined annual production of about 35 million tons of taconite ore.
Biography: Dr. Joyashish Thakurta is an Economic Geologist at the Natural Resources Research Institute. He has been working on the mechanism of origin of magmatic and hydrothermal economic mineral deposits, particularly on the mineralization of critical elements such as nickel, platinum group elements, and rare earth elements.