An overview of Hematite iron ore

Iron, a metallic element found in about 5% of the earth's crust, forms compounds with valencies +2 and +3. This transition metal and element can form three iron oxides namely ferrous oxide (FeO), ferric oxide (Fe2O3) and ferroferric oxide (Fe3O4). Ferric Oxide is also called hematite. The colour of hematite ranges from reddish-brown to gray or black but its streak always has red hue. Even the reddish landscape of planet Mars is because of the oxidized iron which is found in abundance there. Hematite is an important iron ore with a metallic or earthy luster. When iron in hematite comes in contact with water and oxygen, it creates a rust-like appearance. Rust, a commonly used term, is the result of the corrosion of iron when iron comes in contact with water and oxygen.

Hematite is widely used in manufacturing of steel and as a colouring pigment in cosmetics and jewelery. Red iron oxide is a form of hematite.

The major applications of red iron oxide include:

Sound Recording:It is used in making magnetic recording tape. It is mixed with a binder and then coated upon polyester tape.

As a Polish: Red iron oxide acts as an excellent metal polish for the jewelery business.

As a pigment: Red iron oxide powder is ideal to create pigments. This red iron oxide pigment is used for colouring of all kinds of cosmetics, rubber, paper, cloth etc. In recent times, it is extensively used in various types of concrete prefabricated parts and building materials. Red iron oxide pigment helps to give colour to variety of indoor and outdoor concrete surfaces such as walls, floors, pillars, pavements etc.

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Barium Sulphate : A brief account on its versatile properties & uses

Natural barium sulphate (BaSO4) is a barium salt of sulfuric acid. It is found as crystals in nature with high density and thus it is also referred to as Barite (heavy spar). These crystals can be white, red, brown depending on the minerals found around it as it is often present in association with Sandstone and Hematite. Barite mineral is essentially formed through evaporation and geothermal deposition along with number of other formative processes. Also known as Baryte, natural deposits of BaSO4 are found world wide. Barytes usually have no taste or odour and generally regarded as non-hazardous.

Practically, barium sulfate is insoluble in water, acids and bases. Its compounds are even opaque to X-rays and are non-toxic. And hence because of these properties, its suspension in water is used for medical purposes. This suspension is often given to patients undergoing medical imaging procedures of stomach and intestine. Though in few cases, this might lead to cramping or constipation and so it is advised to consume lot of water after the tests to minimize any side effects.

For applications that require pure white colour, barium sulfate is incurred by precipitation method as “blanc-fixe” (permanent white). About 70% of BaSO4 produced is used for coating compounds. This leads to increase in quantity of coating due to its heavy weight characteristic. Barite is also extensively used in oil and gas industries for production of drilling mud. Other applications of Barite includes:

• Improving plasticity of plastics
• Spacer for white and colored pigments
• Filler in concrete
• Shielding radiations

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