Production and Distribution of Iron Ore around the World（1）

Iron ore-producing areas are widely distributed in the world. There are about 60 countries in the world, which produce iron ore.

China, Brazil, Australia, India, Russia, Ukraine, USA, South Africa, Canada, Sweden, etc., are the main producers of the iron ore. Table 8.1 indicates the percentage of the iron ore production in important countries of the world.

1. China:

China now emerged as a leading iron ore-producing country in the world. Till 1975, its production of iron ore in the world was only 6.5 per cent, but in year 2000, China produced 24.3 per cent iron ore of the world. This percentage further increased to 30.77 in year 2006-07, accordingly China is now first in iron ore production in the world.

Its annual production of iron ore is about 520 million tons. China has large iron ore deposits, of which the Manchurian deposits are the most actively mined. Other important regions are the Lower Chang (Yangtze) at Ma’anshan and Tayeh, the Chungking area, and around Taiyuan. Scattered deposits occur in the peninsula, north of Baotou (Paotow), border of Xinjiang (Sinking), at Kiuchure, in the lower Xi Jiang (Si Kang), near Guangzhou (Canton), and on the island of Hainan in the south.

2. Brazil:

Brazil is the world’s second largest iron ore-producing country contributing 17.75 per cent of the world’s total production. Till 1975 its percentage in world production of iron ore was 9.2. The main iron ore-producing areas are located in Itabiria in south-east Brazil. Itabiria is believed to be the richest iron ore reserves in the world – estimated reserves of 35,000 million metric tons.

Brazil’s other important areas of iron ore are: Urucum (Mato Grosso), Catalao (Goias) and Ipanema (Sao Panto). The Carajas iron ore reserve is now identified as one of the main reserves of Brazil. Largely due to the output of this region, Brazil now leads the world in iron ore exports.

3. Australia:

Australia produced 270 million metric tons of iron ore in 2007 and ranks third in world production with 15.98 per cent production. Australia has widely distributed iron ore deposits and reserves which are very large.

The recent working of vast iron ore fields in Western Australia at Mt. Gold-worthy, Mt. Whaleback, Mt. Bruce, Mt. Tom Price, and at Yami Sound has greatly increased production. In Southern Australia, the largest deposit occurs in Iron Knob, Iron Monark, etc. Australia exports most of its iron ore to Japan and European countries.

4. India:

India is the fourth largest producer of iron ore in the world. On an average, India produces about 7 per cent of the world production. It has about 2.6 per cent iron ore reserves of the world.

The leading states and their iron ore-producing areas are as follows:

1） Chhattisgarh: Arindogi, Raoghat and Bailadia (Bastar), Dhalli —Rajbara (Durg), etc.

2）disha: Keonjbar, Mayurbhanj and Diringburi districts.

3）arnataka: Babudan hill, Hospet, Chitradurg, Tumkur, Sandur and Bellary districts.

4）Jharkhand: Noamundi, Notaburu, Pansiraburu, Budaburu, Guo, Barajamada, Meghahataburu in Singhblim district.

5）Andhra Pradesh: Anantpur, Kurmool, Adilabed, Karimnegct, etc.

6）oa: Bicholim, Sirigao, Mapusa, Netarlim, etc.

7）Maharashtra: Pipalagoon, Asola, Lohara in Chandrapura district.

Mostly India’s ore deposits are concentrated in the north-east of peninsular India in the states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. Other fields have been discovered in many parts of the country; among them Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka iron ore mines are notable. India also exports large amount of iron ore through Paradip, Muruagao and Vishakhapatnam ports to Japan, Poland, UK, etc.

5. Russia:

The undivided USSR was the leading iron ore-producing country in the world. As shown in Table 8.1, in 1960 and 1975, the production of USSR was 21.2 and 25.4 per cent respectively of the world. But, in 2000 and 2006, it was 6.3 and 6.21 per cent respectively. Now, Russia ranks fifth in iron ore-producing countries of the world. The yearly production of Russia is about 105 million metric tons.

The three main areas of iron ore in Russia are:

(i) Ural Region:

This region is having a high-grade ore and produces about 25 per cent of the country’s total. Magnitogorsk, Novotrotsk, Zlaloust, Nizny Taghil and Seerow are the main areas of this region.

(ii) Moscow:

Tula region also known as Kursk Magnetic Anomaly is having large reserve of iron ore. This region produces high-grade iron ore. Orel and Veroneth are two major areas of this region.

(iii) North-West Russia:

In this region Murmansk and Kovador are significant mining areas of iron ore.

In Russia, most of the iron exploitation and associated industrial development is concentrated near Moscow. Many rich deposits were found in Siberia also.

6. Ukraine:

Ukraine is the sixth leading producer of iron ore in the world and it produced 4.32 per cent of the world production in 2006. Krivoi Rog of Ukraine possesses best iron ore having 68.5 per cent metallic percentage. It contributes 75 per cent production of Ukraine. The estimated reserves of the region are more than 200 million tons. Other regions of Ukraine are Zaporozhe, Zdanow, Lipetsk and Kerch Peninsula.

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Lucy Xie
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