Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy

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Geometallurgical characterisation of a Channel

Iron Deposit (CID) Ore

Huibin Li, D. J. Pinson, P. Zulli, L. Lu, R. J. Longbottom, S. J. Chew, B. J.

Monaghan & G. Zhang

To cite this article: Huibin Li, D. J. Pinson, P. Zulli, L. Lu, R. J. Longbottom, S. J. Chew,
B. J. Monaghan & G. Zhang (2022) Geometallurgical characterisation of a Channel Iron
Deposit (CID) Ore, Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy, 131:2, 177-186, DOI:
10.1080/25726641.2021.1908105

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/25726641.2021.1908105

Published online: 30 Mar 2021.

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MINERAL PROCESSING AND EXTRACTIVE METALLURGY
2022, VOL. 131, NO. 2, 177–186
https://doi.org/10.1080/25726641.2021.1908105

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Geometallurgical characterisation of a Channel Iron Deposit (CID) Ore

a b
Huibin Li *, D. J. Pinson , P. Zullia, L. Luc, R. J. Longbottoma, S. J. Chewb, B. J. Monaghana and G. Zhanga
a
School of Mechanical Materials Mechatronics and Biomedical Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia; bBlueScope
Steel, Coke and Ironmaking Technology, Wollongong, Australia; cCSIRO Queensland Centre for Advanced Technologies, Brisbane,
Australia

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Channel iron deposits (CID), comprising pisolitic or goethitic ores, remain a prominent iron ore Received 24 June 2019
resource in Western Australia. Previous research work on CID pointed out their complexity in Revised 27 November 2019
genesis, geology, geomorphology, and petrology, which provides some basic information for Accepted 17 March 2021
downstream processing. Sintering investigations have mainly focused on the overall sintering
KEYWORDS
performance and the quality of sinter products rather than the behaviour of the ore Channel iron deposits;
components during sintering. However, individual mineral phases in the ores have their goethitic ore; minerals;
own characteristics during reaction with fluxing materials in the sintering process. In this characterisation;
study, the complex mineral phases in a CID goethitic ore are compared with traditional classification
hematite ore. They are classified into several categories based on the mineral composition,
including the basic mineral phases: goethite matrix, hydro-hematite, and quartz, and
combined minerals: quartz-dispersed hydro-hematite, quartz-dispersed goethite, goethite
with dispersed quartz and clay (gibbsite/kaolinite), and ferruginised wood. The changes of
the goethitic ore when heated to different temperatures were also investigated. More cracks
appeared in the ore with increasing temperature due to dehydration of the goethite matrix.
The temperature induced goethite-to-hematite transformation occurred between 260°C and
300°C, as shown in TGA-DSC curves and confirmed by XRD analysis. The colour of the
goethitic ore changed from brown to vermillion after 300°C due to the phase
transformation, and to ochreous at 1150°C and further to black above 1250°C due to the
decomposition of hematite to magnetite.

Introduction
Iron ore sinter constitutes a major proportion of blast
furnace (BF) burden in most countries. The quality
and consistency of sinter have a significant impact
on BF performance (Biswas 1981; Lu 2007). Hematite
ore has typically constituted the majority of iron ore
used in the sintering process. However, with the
decrease of hematite ore production and increase in
the production of other ores, e.g. goethite, the pro-
portion of non-hematite ore utilisation in sintering
has been increasing.
The Pilbara region in northwestern Australia
accommodates most of Australia’s iron ore resources
and production. This includes ∼7800 Mt channel
iron deposits (CID) formed by infilling palaeochan-
nels incised into proterozoic basement rocks (Town-
send and Flint 1997; Macphail and Stone 2004).
Significant investigations on the genesis and for-
mation of these ores have been conducted to make
clear the structure of the CID goethite ore, including
the ore’s matrix, pores, and all kinds of cores (Morris
1980; Morris and Ramanaidou 2007; Morris and
Kneeshaw 2011). It is speculated from the morphology
of ore body that the original matrix material
enveloping the granules was partially leached out
and secondary materials such as iron oxides, clay,
silica or carbonates, filled the voids. The previous
work was limited to the determination of the macro-
structure and morphology of the ores (Ramanaidou
et al. 2003). More detailed characterisation of the min-
eral compositions of the cores, the layers in nuclei sur-
rounding a core, and the matrix is lacking. This
information is of high importance to the understand-
ing of the interaction between the ore and fluxing
materials during sintering, especially at the early
stage of melt formation.
Using microsintering testing, Wu et al. (2010)
demonstrated that Yandi CID ore has higher assimila-
tion ability, higher liquid phase fluidity, and stronger
ability to form SFCA in comparison with hematite
ores, but the bonding phase formed from Yandi ore
has a lower strength. They attributed the characteristic
behaviour of the Yandi ore to its loss of combined
water and resultant voids during sintering. It is
reported that blending of 10∼40% of goethite ores
with hematite ores does not lead to significant changes
in sinter mineralogy (Yang and Davis 1999; Yang et al.
2000). During sintering, raw materials including iron

CONTACT Huibin Li hl762@uowmail.edu.au Northfields Ave Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia

*Huibin Li, Associate Research Fellow at University of Wollongong, specialised in ore characterization, mineral processing and metallurgical processing.
© 2021 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and The AusIMM Published by Taylor & Francis on behalf of the Institute and The AusIMM
178 H. LI ET AL.
Table 1. The major chemical compositions of hematite Ore A and goethite Ore B, wt.%.
Ore TFe Al2O3 SiO2 Cu
A 69.1 0.23 0.81 0.002
B 57.7 1.27 5.81 0.002
ore, coke breeze, limestone, mill scale and flue dust are
converted into an agglomerated product. The reac-
tions of ferrous (hematite or goethite) minerals and
impurities with CaO affect the generation of the initial
liquid phase, and further influence the whole sintering
process. The mineral composition, including impuri-
ties and their distribution, in a local area of ore particle
in contact with the CaO flux, plays an important role
in the interaction between the ore and flux. Therefore,
detailed information on the chemical distribution of
impurities within the individual phases and the pre-
senting state of different phases in local minerals are
worthy of further exploration.
The CSIRO (Suthers et al. 2016) classifies the domi-
nant iron ores into three primary types, namely hema-
tite, hematitie-goethite, and goethite. These were then
further classified into 11 groups by their textural
characteristics, hardness etc., in which goethite ores
were categorised into highly microporous ochreous
goethite, moderately porous goethite, and dense vitr-
eous goethite. Such geological classification aids
understanding of primary physical characteristics,
especially in the overall ore body. However, it provides
limited insight into the mineral forms of the impuri-
ties that affect the performance of the ores in the sin-
tering process. In this study, a Yandi iron ore (Ore B, a
highly microporous ochreous goethite) was examined
in relation to a hematite (Ore A) to develop better
understanding of the contained minerals according
to their chemical compositions and mineral textures
from the viewpoint of sintering performance. This
provides a foundation for the examination of the
interaction of the minerals with fluxes during sinter-
ing, which helps to better elucidate the sintering per-
formance of the ore and improve the operation of
the sintering process.
Experimental
Materials
Samples of hematite (Ore A) and goethite (Ore B)
were analysed by XRF and the results presented in
Table 1. Whilst Ore A is nominated as hematite ore,
the bulk product is a blended ore from multiple sites
and is composed of both hematitic and goethitic com-
ponent ores.
Characterisation methods
The bulk chemical analysis of ore samples was carried
out by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF). A glass
P S Other metals LOI
0.02 0.01 0.06 0.89
0.04 0.01 0.07 10.1
disk was prepared from 0.4 g of finely ground sample
powder and 2.4 g of 57:43 lithium tetraborate:metabo-
rate flux by melting at 970°C.
Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns were
obtained for the original and heat-treated ores using
a Philips X’Pert diffractometer, fitted with a Cu
long-fine-focus tube operated at 40 kV and 40 mA
and a curved graphite post-diffraction monochroma-
tor. Data were collected over the range 20°≤2θ≤80°
in steps of 0.02°, with a counting time of 0.5 s at
each step.
Thermogravimetric-differential scanning calori-
metric analysis (TGA-DSC) was undertaken using a
NETZSCH instrument (STA 449 F5 Jupiter). A
finely ground sample weighing approx. 50 mg was
placed in a platinum crucible. The temperature was
increased to 1400°C at 25°C/min in flowing air or
nitrogen atmosphere with gas flow rate of
60 ml min−1.
As-received lump ore presents with fine adhering
particles covering the surface. To show the true sur-
face colour of the ore phases, an ultrasonic cleaning
method was used to wash the fine powder off the
ore surface. The lumps were classified by their col-
our and appearance during primary screening.
Then the selected lumps were examined for their
mineral phase composition using scanning electron
microscope (SEM) - energy dispersive spectrometer
(EDS), so that mineral phases were identified
accurately.
The samples (unheated or post-heated) were
mounted in epoxy resin in preparation for optical
and SEM-EDS analysis. After curing, the surface was
polished to a 1μm finish for optical microscopic obser-
vation (Leica DM6000 Optical Microscope). The
polished sample was then platinum coated prior to
analysis by SEM (JEOL JSM – 6490LV) operated at
15 kV.
Results and discussion
Changes in Ore A and Ore B during Heating
Some important reactions happen during the heating
process, such as dehydration of goethite and hydrohe-
matite phases, and decomposition of hematite, which
affects mineral evolution. Figure 1 shows the thermo-
gravimetric analysis - differential scanning calorimetry
(TGA-DSC) curves of hematite Ore A and goethite
Ore B in air and nitrogen. Both Ore A and Ore B
were pre-dried at 105°C for 12 h before testing to
ensure the moisture was totally removed, which is

Figure 1. TGA-DSC curve of hematite Ore A (a) and goethite Ore B (b) in air and nitrogen atmospheres.
the reason why there were no weight loss before 100°C
in Figure 1(a) and (b). The moisture contents of Ore A
and Ore B were 4.10% and 8.62%, respectively. Figure
1(a) shows that decomposition of hematite occurred
from 1215°C in nitrogen and 1377°C in air, observed
as an associated weight loss. Notably, there was a
phase transition of hematite from type I to II at
about 680°C (Chase 1996), as shown in the DSC
curve of Ore A. Figure 1(b) shows that dehydration
of goethite Ore B commenced at approximately 260°
C and finished at approximately 400°C, and corre-
spondingly the sample weight sharply decreased
within this temperature range, which corresponds to
the reported loss on ignition of the ore. The decompo-
sition of hematite in Ore B occurred from 1142°C in
nitrogen and 1350°C in air, which are lower than the
corresponding decomposition temperatures of hema-
tite ores.
Figure 2. XRD patterns of Ore A and Ore B after heating at different temperatures in air (G: goethite, H: Hematite, M: magnetite, Q:
quartz).
MINERAL PROCESSING AND EXTRACTIVE METALLURGY 179
Powdered Ore B was heated in air isothermally to
designated temperatures to examine the effect on its
phase composition. At lower temperatures, 100–800°
C, the samples were held at a temperature for
30 min, and at higher temperatures, 1000–1300°C,
the holding time was for 4 min to simulate the sin-
tering process. The heated samples were then
quenched to room temperature in air. The colour
of the powder changed from original brown to ver-
million after 300°C, and to ochreous at 1150°C and
further to black above 1250°C. Different colours rep-
resented the different chemical composition, as
explained using XRD patterns and TGA-DSC curves
below.
The XRD patterns of original and heat-treated
samples are shown in Figure 2. Although it is known
that Ore B contains different phases, the XRD peaks
of goethite were dominant. Naturally occurring fine
180 H. LI ET AL.
quartz and hydrohematite are not well crystallised.
Weak peaks of quartz were more obvious in the
XRD patterns of the samples heated at 400–1050°
C, which overlapped with the peaks of goethite at
lower temperatures. The peaks of hydrohematite
were too weak and spread broadly, and not
obviously observed in either original or partly dehy-
drated samples. Compared with the original XRD
patterns, goethite peaks became weaker after heating
at 300°C, and disappeared at 400°C due to dehy-
dration (hematite formation). The initial peaks of
hematite (XRD patterns at 400°C) were low and
broad but became stronger and sharper with increas-
ing temperature due to increasing crystallisation.
Increasing crystallization of quartz was also observed
at temperatures 1200 and 1300°C. The formation of
magnetite at 1300°C was not obvious, which is con-
sistent with the hematite decomposition in TGA-
DSC in Figure 1(b). In summary, dehydration of
goethite occurred below 400°C, while the recrystalli-
sation of hematite and quartz happened above 400
and 1050°C, respectively. It was noted that XRD pat-
terns of Ore B at high temperatures to 1300°C were
almost overlapping with that of the original Ore A
except quartz peaks, which reveals the ferrous
forms of the samples were practically similar under
the conditions. XRD patterns of hematite Ore A
after heating show the same as that of the original
due to its stable characteristics.
Figure 3. Photomicrographs of the original and heated samples of Goethitic Ore B at different temperatures.
Figure 3 shows photomicrographic cross-sections
of cubic samples of Ore B heated to different tempera-
tures. The samples marked as original and heated to
100–300°C have similar structures, containing many
nuclei or cores surrounded by goethite/hydrohematite
matrix. The structure did not show apparent changes
compared with the original after heating to 300°C,
except for the appearance of cracks due to dehy-
dration. The sample heated to 400°C was lighter due
to dehydration of the grey goethite to form hematite.
These observations are consistent with the TGA-
DSC and XRD results. From 450 to 800°C, the number
of cracks in the samples increased and became larger
and goethite phase in grey colour was gradually con-
verted to hematite in white colour under optical
microscopy due to further dehydration with increas-
ing temperature. Moreover, goethite matrix envelop-
ing cores appeared microporous structure in
micrograph due to loss of combined water during
dehydration, while the cores (hydrohematite (HH)
and quartz (Q) marked in figure) showed little change.
At 1100 and 1200°C, cracking resulted in complete
breakage of the samples. Original goethite showed a
cellular structure due to the densification and recrys-
tallization caused by heating to high temperatures,
however the cores appeared to remain intact with little
change. In the following sections, the changes of var-
ious cores and matrix during heating will be examined
in detail.
 MINERAL PROCESSING AND EXTRACTIVE METALLURGY 181

Characterisation of Mineral Compositions of shows that resin has penetrated the porous
Hematitic Ore A and Goethitic Ore B layers, while the Si and Al distributions show that
fine clay particles were dispersed in the porous
Hematite Ore A
layers. Traditional hematite Ore A was selected as
The typical structure of the hematite lumps selected
reference due to its simple structure and stable
from Ore A is presented in Figure 4. It consists of
characteristics under high temperatures. After heat-
banded iron-formation (BIF) which is finely layered
ing at 1200°C individually, the changes of the
sedimentary rock composed of alternating bands of
Ore A structure were negligible, because hematite
dense and porous iron oxide. The bands of the ore
and clay mentioned above were stable at high
marked as H1 and H2 represent the dense skeleton
temperature without existence of fluxing materials,
of the ore body. The porous layers between
and the XRD patterns of Ore A after heating at
these bands contain small amounts of distributed
high temperatures were the same as the original
clay, observable in the EDS results of points C1
patterns.
and C2 in Table 2. The carbon mapping in Figure 4

Figure 4 Photomicrographs (OM) of an Ore A block and the BSE image and EDS mapping of rectangle area in OM.
182 H. LI ET AL.

Table 2. Elemental composition (at.%) of Ore A at marked

points in Figure 4.
Label H1 H2 C1 C2
O 47.9 50.0 60.7 58.8
Al 0.04 0.03 18.1 19.0
Si 0.22 0.00 18.6 19.8
Fe 50.7 48.7 1.99 1.68

Goethite Ore B
Compared with the hematite ore, goethite Ore B is
more complex. In this study, the minerals of goethite
Ore B are classified into single mineral phases, such
as goethite (G), quartz (Q), hydro-hematite (HH),
and mixed phases, such as quartz-dispersed hydro-
hematite (HHQ), quartz-dispersed goethite (GQ),
goethite with dispersed quartz and clay (gibbsite/kao-
linite) (GQC). The clay is distributed in the goethite
matrix with quartz as very fine grains, so it is not con-
sidered as a single mineral. Figure 5 gives an example
of a block of Ore B which contains matrix and various
cores. In the following sections, each mineral will be
introduced in detail.
Goethite phase. In Figure 5, the matrix enveloping
cores is goethite, appearing grey in colour under
optical microscopy. It comprises the largest volume
of the ore. Ramanaidou et al. (2003) revealed that
the goethite occupies up to 75% of the volume.
Figure 6 shows a relatively pure goethite particle of
black shiny appearance (Figure 6(a)) with the layered
structure revealed in the optical microscopic image
(Figure 6(b)) consistent with sedimentation during
formation. A small amount of Al and Si is detected
in the goethite, accounting for approximately
0.6 wt.% and 1.4 wt.%, respectively. The goethite par-
ticle presented in Figure 6 is relatively pure, but in
most particles, goethite is present as the matrix
enveloping various cores, as formed during the
ore’s sedimentation.
Figure 6. Photo (a) and photomicrograph (b) of a relatively
pure goethite particle.
Hydro-hematite (HH). Hydro-hematite is a defect
solid solution where OH − . ions replace oxygen (Lu
2015). Figure 7 shows the appearance of several
goethite particles containing hydro-hematite cores
and optical cross-sections of such cores in a natural
particle and in a particle heated at 1200°C for 4 min
resulting in densification and recrystallization. To
the naked eye, the hydro-hematite cores are black in
colour and easy tidentify, while under optical
microscopy, the cores appear white and are sur-
rounded by grey goethite. After heating at 1200°C,
the cores in the area HH remained dense and did
not show apparent changes, while a ring of goethite
surrounding the core had been dehydrated and
became porous indicating that combined water in
hydro-hematite is very low.
Quartz phase (Q). In Table 1, the goethite Ore B con-
tains 5.81 wt.% SiO2. During investigation, a large
amount of quartz was found, some of which presented
as relatively large and pure quartz grains and the
remainder as fine grains dispersed in other phases.
In this section, the relatively large and pure quartz is
introduced.
A typical pure quartz core is presented in Figure 8.
It is a milky white colour in Figure 8(a), but presents as
dark grey under optical microscopy in Figure 8(b).
EDS analysis showed no other impurities in this
quartz grain. In Figure 8(b), the area of dark green col-
our surrounding the pure quartz is quartz-dispersed
hydro-hematite (see section below). Figure 8(c)
shows another particle containing quartz following
heating to 1200°C, in which quartz regions remained
unchanged, while goethite was significantly fractured.

Quartz-dispersed hydro-hematite (HHQ). Hydro-

Figure 5. Photo (a) and photomicrograph (b) of the polished
surface of an Ore B lump containing goethite matrix and
enveloped cores.
hematite particles combined with fine quartz grains
are the most common minerals in Ore B. The most
obvious feature of these particles is the black cortex
(hydro-hematite) surrounding the red nuclei (hydro-
hematite combined with quartz). The cross-sections
of two particles are shown in Figure 9(a).
The combination of hydro-hematite and quartz
shows the cores as red in colour (Figure 9(a) and
 MINERAL PROCESSING AND EXTRACTIVE METALLURGY 183

Figure 7. Photo (a) and photomicrograph (b) of hydro-hematite core, and a core heated at 1200°C (c).

Figure 8. Photo (a) and photomicrograph (b) of quartz core and heated core at 1200°C (c). (Q: Quartz; HHQ: Quartz-dispersed
hydro-hematite).

(b)). The photomicrographs present differently under
optical microscopy in (c), because of the difference in
size of quartz grains distributed and combined with
hydro-hematite. In particle 1 in Figure 9(a), the finer
quartz grains (as determined from Si mapping) com-
bine with hydro-hematite to form the denser and
harder structure, (indicating a high strength of the
core), while in particle 2, the coarser quartz grains
and the skeleton hydro-hematite are weakly combined
and form a weaker structure. Due to the low content of
combined water in hydro-hematite, heating to 1200 °C
hardly affected the structure (Figure 8(c)).

Figure 9. Photos of two original particles (a), polished cross-sections of particles (b), photomicrograph of quartz dispersed hydro-
hematite mineral (c), and Si mapping of typical area in quartz dispersed hydro-hematite.
184 H. LI ET AL.

Quartz-dispersed goethite (GQ). Figure 10 shows

Figure 10. Photos of three original particles after ultrasonic
cleaning (a) and after polishing (b); Photomicrographs of the
three particles (c) and magnified quartz dispersed goethite
area in a heated sample at 1200°C (d).
three particles with quartz-dispersed goethite (brown
colour). Particle 1 presents several GQ cores envel-
oped by goethite matrix, while a single larger GQ
core is in Particle 2. The whole of Particle 3 is GQ min-
eral. These minerals have hard surfaces and appear
bright with reflected light. Figures 10(a) and (b)
show the original particles, and mounted and polished
original samples, respectively. Figure 10(c) shows the
photomicrograph of the same three particles. Figure
10(d) shows the same type of particle heated at
1200°C which shows many cracks due to dehydration
of goethite. Figure 11 shows the photomicrograph,
BSE image and elemental distribution by EDS map-
ping of the rectangular area in Figure 10(c). Detailed
EDS analysis shows a fine dispersion of quartz grains
in the goethite matrix that form the mineral core
structure in the particles. Quartz dispersed in goethite
is classified into two types: fine grained (type 1); coarse
grains distributed as veins within the cores or particles
(type 2). The EDS analysis of areas G1 and G2 (type 1)
(Table 3) indicates that the main body of the cores
consists of goethite with varying amount of silica.
Points S1–S3 (type 2) show silica with a small amount
of iron distributed in the cores.

Goethite with dispersed clay (gibbsite/kaolinite) and

quartz (GCQ). Some particles in Ore B had a loose
and porous structure and present brown in colour
due to the clay dispersed within the goethite (Figure
12(a)). The yellow cores in the particles are more por-
ous and weaker, and appear black in colour under
optical microscopy in Figure 12(b). After heating to
Figure 11. Photomicrograph (a) and BSE image (b) of the rec-
tangle area of particle 3 in Figure 10(c) and elemental distri- 1200°C, many cracks were generated due to the dehy-
bution by EDS mapping. dration of the goethite.
Figure 13 show the photomicrograph, the BSE
Table 3. Elemental composition (wt.%) at the points or areas image and elemental distribution by EDS mapping
labelled in Figure 11. of the rectangular area (brown core) in Figure 12(b).
Label S1 S2 S3 G1 G2 Fine silica grains distributed in the particles can be
O 53.2 52.9 52.7 41.9 39.3 seen in the EDS mapping in Figure 13. The quartz
Al 0 0 0 0.14 0.05
Si 46.1 46.8 46.4 16.3 7.2 grains (composition at points S1–S3 in Table 4) con-
Fe 0.5 0.24 0.83 41.8 53.2 tain very little iron, while the kaolinite content in

Figure 12. Photo (a) and photomicrograph (b) of goethite with dispersed quartz and kaolinite phase core; Heated sample at 1200
°C (c).
 MINERAL PROCESSING AND EXTRACTIVE METALLURGY 185

Figure 13. Photomicrograph (a) and the BSE image (b) of the rectangle area in Figure 12(b); Elemental distribution in the area by
EDS mapping.

yellow cores (G1–G3 in Table 4) is as high as
∼43.5 wt.%, calculated from the G1–G3 chemical
composition.
Ferruginised wood. Ferruginised wood is generally
one of the most visually prominent of the channel
iron deposit components due to its ochre yellow col-
our and unique texture. Ramanaidou et al. (2003)
characterised ferruginised wood into two basic types:
(1) small hematitic fragments as nuclei (Figure 14);
and (2) larger individual fragments of goethitic
replaced material. Figure 14 shows the photomicro-
graph of type one (hematitic fragment), in which the
colour contrast identifies the goethite matrix and
hematite (wood structure) clearly. After heating to
1200°C, there was almost no apparent change to the
Figure 14. Photomicrograph of ferruginised wood (hematitic
fragment) (a) and the BSE image of a small area in (a) (b).
hematitic ferruginised wood. The EDS results of
Figure 14(b) in Table 4 show that the ferruginised
wood comprises of hematite and a tiny amount of
impurities (Si and Al).
Conclusions
A Channel iron deposit (CID) goethitic Ore B was
characterised and compared with a traditional hema-
tite Ore A that has simple structure with banded
iron-formation. The minerals in the CID ore were
classified into several categories based on the mineral
composition, including basic mineral phases: goethite
matrix, hydro-hematite, and quartz, and combined
minerals: quartz-dispersed hydro-hematite, quartz-
dispersed goethite, goethite with dispersed quartz
and clay (kaolinite), and ferruginised wood.
The changes of the hematite Ore A and the goethi-
tic Ore B when heated to different temperatures were
investigated. With increasing temperature from room
temperature to 1200°C, hematite Ore A kept the orig-
inal structure and morphology supported by the opti-
cal microscopy images, and the ore presented stable
characteristics of the hematite component shown by
the XRD patterns. Whereas, for goethite Ore B,
many cracks appeared in the ore with increasing
temperature due to dehydration of the ore matrix.

Table 4. Elemental composition (wt.%) of points or areas in Figures 11 and 12.

Label S1 S2 S3 G1 G2 G3 W1 W2 W3
O 50.9 50.0 50.3 42.5 39.8 42.9 22.1 28.3 29.3
Al 0.01 0.07 0.26 10.7 9.33 10.0 0.07 0.06 0.10
Si 47.6 48.3 48.0 10.0 7.89 8.85 1.03 1.31 1.29
Fe 1.30 1.47 1.36 36.5 42.7 38.0 76.7 70.2 69.2
186 H. LI ET AL.
The temperature induced goethite-to-hematite trans-
formation occurred between 260 and 400°C, as
shown in TGA-DSC curves and confirmed by XRD
analysis. Under optical microscope, the goethite matrix
in grey colour was gradually converted to hematite in
white colour due to dehydration of goethite with
increasing temperature to 800°C. Meanwhile, micro-
porous structure of the dehydrated goethite appeared
because of combined water loss. With increasing temp-
erature to 1200°C, original goethite showed a cellular
structure due to the densification and recrystallization
caused by heating to high temperatures. However, the
cores appeared to remain intact with negligible
changes at high temperatures. The colour of the goethi-
tic ore changed from brown to vermillion after 300°C
due to the phase transformation, and to ochreous at
1150°C and further to black above 1250°C due to the
decomposition of hematite to magnetite.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from the Aus-
tralian Research Council Research Hub for Australian Steel
Manufacturing (Project Number IH130100017) and the
support of BlueScope Ltd. The SEM/EDS analysis was
implemented in the Electron Microscopy Center at the Uni-
versity of Wollongong .
Funding
The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from the Aus-
tralian Research Council Research Hub for Australian Steel
Manufacturing [Project Number IH130100017] and the
support of BlueScope Ltd. The SEM/EDS analysis was
implemented in the Electron Microscopy Center at the Uni-
versity of Wollongong.
ORCID
Huibin Li http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1690-3883
D. J. Pinson http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6430-6680
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