Adores, Harold

Almirante, John Carlo

Dayday, Niel Dominic
Delfin, Gerbie
Techno I – I-Q
Hw No. F3
091418

CONTENTS

FERROUS METAL

 Iron Ore Mining ……………

 Iron Ore Processing up to finish product ……………

Submitted to
EGNR. DOMINIC MERCURIO
Teacher in Mechanical Technology
 IRON ORE MINING
Iron ore is a type of mineral and rock from which metallic iron is extracted
economically. This ore is normally rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark
grey, bright yellow and deep purple to rusty red. The iron itself is usually found in
the form of magnetite (Fe3O4), hematite (Fe2O3), goethite (FeO(OH)), limonite
(FeO(OH).n(H2O)) or siderite (FeCO3).

The process of mining consists of discovery of an iron ore deposit through

extraction of iron ore and finally to returning the land to its natural state. It consists
of several distinct steps. The first is discovery of the iron ore deposit which is
carried out through prospecting or exploration to find and then define the extent,
location and value of the ore body. This leads to a mathematical resource
estimation of the size and grade of the deposit. Exploration and evaluation consist
of identification and quantification of ore bodies by using a range of geological,
geophysical and metallurgical techniques. In its simplest forms exploration
involves drilling in remote areas to sample areas. The data from exploration
activities is logged, mapped, analyzed and interpreted often by using models.

After the ore body has been evaluated, a detailed plan for mining is
developed. This detailed plan identifies which ore bodies are to be mined and in
what sequence in order to deliver the required iron ore product at an appropriate
cost. The process of mine planning is an important step before the start of mine
development and it continues on day to day basis once the mine becomes
operational.

To gain access to the iron ore deposit within an area, it is often necessary to
mine through or remove waste material (also known as overburden) which is not of
an interest. The total movement of ore and waste constitutes the mining process.
Often more waste than ore is mined during the life of a mine, depending on the
nature and location of the ore deposit. Removal and placement of overburden is a
major cost in the mining operation.
 IRON ORE PROCESSING UP TO FINISHED PRODUCT
The recovery of material is done from an open pit in the ground. Overburden consisting
of surface vegetation, soil and rock material is removed (stripped) to reach buried ore deposits.
Overburden is continually removed during the life of the mine as the high wall is cut back to
permit deepening of the pit. In the process of mining ore benches are developed for the purpose
of drilling, blasting and hauling of the ore to the crushing plant. The height of the benches is
dependent on several factors such as output requirement, shape, size and depth of occurrence of
ore body, geological disturbance suffered by the ore body, hardness and compactness of the ore
body, type and the size of deployed for the mining operations etc. The length of the face is
dependent on various factors such as contours of deposit, output required, variation in grade,
blending requirements and capacity of loading machinery etc. The width of the bench is
governed to a large extent by the size of the largest machinery deployed.
Drilling in the benches of open pit mining is done for production of iron ore with
mechanized drills specific for each mining method. The main objective of drilling operations is
to create a hole of suitable diameter, depth and direction in rock for explosives to be placed for
blasting activities. The drilling of the holes is done normally in a particular pattern which
depends on the bench height, the diameter of the hole, the drilling machinery deployed, nature of
rock and the types of explosives used. The blast holes are usually vertical but can be inclined for
obtaining better blasting results.
The objective of blasting is to expose the ore body for extraction as well as to break up
the ore. The main requirement for an explosive to be used in mine is the ability to achieve
complete combustion without an external oxygen supply. Explosive materials used during
blasting during earlier days are mainly nitroglycerine, carbonaceous material and an oxidizing
agent. Sometimes emulsion or gel explosive cartridges are used as explosive material. However
these days, the most common explosives used are mixture of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil
(ANFO). The explosives are detonated by a high explosive blasting cap and/or primer. Now a
days nonel is used as detonator. Nonel is shock tube detonator designed to initiate explosions.
Instead of electric wires, a hollow plastic tube delivers the firing impulse to the detonator,
making it immune to most of the hazards associated with stray electrical current. It consists of a
small diameter, three-layer plastic tube coated on the innermost wall with a reactive explosive
compound, which, when ignited, propagates a low energy signal, similar to a dust explosion. The
reaction travels at approximately 2,000 m/sec along the length of the tubing with minimal
disturbance outside of the tube. The design of nonel detonators incorporates patented technology,
including the cushion disk (CD) and delay ignition buffer (DIB) to provide reliability and
accuracy in all blasting applications.
Areas for open pit mining are selected using the mining plan. Identified areas are then
tagged. The ore is mined from large open pits by progressive extraction along steps or benches.
The benches provide access to progressively deeper ore, as upper level is removed. After the soil
and overlying rock are cleared, the ore is drilled and blasted. The portion of the ore body to be
removed is first drilled by using rigs in an appropriate pattern. The drilled holes are then loaded
with explosive mixtures, charged and blasted. The resulting blast breaks the material to a size
required for digging.
Following blasting, the broken ore is loaded for transport by shovels, excavators or front
end loaders onto large dump trucks for its transportation to the crushing and washing plant. The
transportation is facilitated by maintaining mine haul roads. Overland belt conveyors are used to
transport the ore material where there are long distances between the pits and crushing plants and
between the crushing plants and loading sites. The wide holes in the ground created by drilling,
blasting and ore removal are referred as ‘open pits’.