Effect of mineralogy and texture on the strength of iron ore

Abstract

A preliminary investigation on three types of iron ore from the same deposit was carried out. Major minerals in all the three ores are dense martite, microplaty hematite, vitreous goethite, ochreous goethite at varied proportion whereas kaolinite and quartz occur in minor to trace amount. There is a textural variation with micro-porosity. The strength is the maximum (674 kg.f/cm2) in the ore dominated by dense martite and pseudotachylite whereas moderately low (254 kg.f/cm2) in the ore with micro-platy hematite and extensive micro-porosity, and is the lowest (157 kg.f/cm 2) for the ore dominated by goethite. Presence of pseudotachylite, reported for the first time, in dense martite iron ore possibly provides additional strength to the latter.