Principal mineral raw materials for iron and Steel Industry

Principal mineral raw materials for iron & steel industry are ore, flux & fuel with minor quantities of refactory minerals such as chromite, magnesite, silica rock, fireclay and dolomite, required for making refactories that go to line the iron and steel furnaces. Manganese ore is also an essential raw material both in the manufacture of pig iron and for its ferro-alloys required at the steel making stage.Small quantities of silica sand for foundry work and a host of other materials such as graphite, flourspar, aluminium, ferro-alloys, etc., are required directly or indirectly at one stage or the other in the process of making iron & steel; but these do not constitute
the major or principal mineral raw materials and are beyond the purview of this paper.The following essential mineral raw materials are discussed here:
Iron ore, coal, flux, manganese ore, fireclay, chrome ore, magnesite & dolomite