Iron Ore Pellets

[Aggiebit]

I have access to iron ore pellets from the Marquette, MI Range.  My understanding the iron content is 55-65 percent.  Can I sell this stuff?  Willing to sell by the Pound.

[Steve Sells]

current prices in the US are US $105-115 / Metric Ton. Of course you posted to a world wide forum of 150 countries no one knows where you are,

[MotoMike]

How does one go about using this?  would it be for the historic perspective, or would there be an advantage?   

 

[the iron dwarf]

I could use a few pounds too, let me know how to pay and when you can drop it off

[Steve Sells]

smelt it into iron

[ThomasPowers]

If these are the taconite pellets; they were the worst ore for smelting that we have used.  They come prefluxed for use in a blast furnace and so contain WAY MORE than what is needed for a bloomery; we called it "iron soup" and had a lot of issues consolidating the bloom. Also for a bloomery they need to be crushed as their size is greater than will work in a small bloomery, (not an easy of fun task).  They made great wrist rocket ammo though.

100 mesh magnetite sold as a pollution control item was one of the best and was close to the "iron sand" used in Japanese smelting.  Again cheap in large amounts. We bought 400# as that was the smallest amount they would sell and the shipping was more than the cost of the material!.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Welcome to IFI... I always suggest reading this thread to get the best out of the forum.

https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/53873-read-this-first/

 

[SLAG]

T. P.,

Is correct.

Let me add a little bit more information.

The rich iron ore deposits in America were pretty much exhausted by the end of the Second World War. 

Iron ore producers then looked at taconite again.  It was looked upon as inferior material, as the iron concentration was too low.

The main iron component is magnetite,  black magnetic  iron ore,  = Fe3O4,   some hematite  (red iron oxide ore,  Fe2O3).

Those ores are found in the Mesabi iron range of Minnesota and the Marquette iron deposits in Michigan.

The ore has to be concentrated before it is usable in a blast furnace.

This entails ore crushing , then magnetic separation of the magnetite. Which is then mixed with a clay binder , (usually bentonite) and a fluxing agent usually  crushed limestone   CaCO3.

These one centimeter pellets are heated to a high temperature.  This makes the material hard with a great crushing strength.  The void between the pellets allows  heated carbon monoxide , and some oxygen to strip the oxygen from the iron molecules in the blast furnace.

Note that that the iron in those pellets is about 65%. That percentage is WAY too low for a rural (backyard), bloomery furnace.

The blast furnaces of eastern Ontario  (e.g. Hamilton),   Indiana,  Ohio et cetera,  may be interested in your supply. (they use tens or hundreds of tons  every day.)

I hope that these notes prove interesting to some of the site denizens.

Sincerely,

SLAG.

[Aggiebit]

Thank you Slag for the excellent information.  Had someone tell me it was good for forging.  It's a shame.  Is is literally laying by the tons along the railroad tracks heading to the iron ore docks.

[Steve Sells]

in that case it still belongs to the RR COMPANY and its theft to remove it with out written permission, unless you can  present that this thread is now closed.

[Steve Sells]

In response to the PM I got,

RR tracks ARE private property, taking ANYTHING from the rail road or its right of way is theft unless you have written permission. Why is that so hard to understand?  Telling me I am rude for telling you is uncalled for, RR property is private property. getting mad at me is not going to change that. I will un lock the thread  for others to chime in if that will help you understand

[ThomasPowers]

Here in the USA the Railroads actually have their own cops with rather excessively wide rights granted back in the bad old days 100+ years ago and never rescinded.  I've had students run afoul of them and get a strong lecture just crossing the tracks outside of an official crossing.  Nowadays there is another consideration: RR tracks often go straight through heavily urbanized areas  often carrying extremely hazardous chemicals.  They are definitely aware of the possibility of terrorism and do not have a sense of humour about folks mucking about the tracks!

I strongly suggest that people do not post possible felonies they may have committed on an open forum and if you don't believe me may I recommend you check with a lawyer.

[MotoMike]

I have acquired rail scrap from scrap yards and from business that do repair.  Maybe it was said that he was going out and collecting it without permission, but I didn't see it.  I've had friends who went and got small contracts to remove old ties and do other work for them.      He just said he had access to it.  

I got a partial answer to my question how to use it "smelt it into iron"  

but why.  can you achieve some effect you cant buy buying iron, is there a historical perspective, like a mountain because it is there?

 

 

[Frozenforge]

When I was a kid back in mid 70s we lived at K.I. Sawyer air force base there in the upper peninsula we would hike over to the rail line and fill our pockets for sling shot ammunition. Hands turned red, pants stained red. 

[ThomasPowers]

Making your own iron from ore is totally uneconomical; but can be a real hoot and gives you bragging rights to boot.

Historically in Western Europe it was EXTREMELY rare for a smith to make his own iron, after all iron has been a trade good since the start of the iron age---just look at all the "currency bars" that have been excavated.

(The exception I am aware of is certain remote homesteads in the early medieval Scandinavian areas where the locals smelted and forged their own iron.)

[JHCC]

10 hours ago, MotoMike said:

Maybe it was said that he was going out and collecting it without permission, but I didn't see it. 

Given that this page is an open resource for anyone looking for information (and especially given how much trouble even IFI members sometimes have reading back over old threads), some things bear frequent repetition. Even if the OF wasn't suggesting collecting it without permission, the warning needs to be given in case someone else reads their post as an invitation to do just that (or indeed to collect RR spikes etc) without permission and in violation of the law.

If anyone does end up trying to make bloomery iron from taconite, just make sure to hum a few bars of "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" in honor of a famous taconite carrier.

[dave in pa.]

At least once a week I am offered up the location of a "bunch" of railroad spikes in exchange for a spike knife or tomahawk.

After a couple of questions the source is unquestionably verified, since we are a mile or two from a major railway.

I then educate the individual and tell them to "leave them where they are".

[JHCC]

A couple of years ago, I had an interesting and educational experience regarding a big ol' pile o' spikes just sitting next to a rail line. Wanting to be ethical and legal about the whole thing, I tracked down* the owner of the line and requested permission to salvage a bucketful or so. It turned out that the rails had recently been replaced, and the spikes were now the property of the company that did the replacement, which was planning to recover them later for salvage.

 

*Get it? "Tracked down"!

[MotoMike]

In 22 years of copping in a railroad community, I've had my fair share of interactions with railroad police.  the company policy is that you can't be on railroad right of way.  Because the company cares, the rail police "care"  It is just a better practice for them to not have people on their property no matter their purpose.  what do they really care about?  boarding cars in yards and stealing property from them.  breaking into sheds or workshops and removing tools and property from them.  removing wire, track  or machinery that will cause an unsafe condition.  in the world of trains any unsafe situation can be catastrophic.  Also living on the Mississippi River, the tracks run between the road and lots of riprap fishing.  rail trespassing is happening all the time for this purpose.  I never see them much concerned about it.  If the person makes it an easy ticket, they might but most of the rail trespassing charges I've seen involved an added charge for something much more serious.   When I was a kid piles of rail scrap were in and around the local.  existing with weeds growing through them and rusting away.  Almost every garage had an "illegally obtained" rail anvil, buckets of spikes and plates and other things that accumulated along the right of way and in the yards.  No one much cared.  9-11 has brought new focus to the area.  Still in my area it appears no one cares.  Does that mean if you are stepping across the right of way to fish, or you pick up a spike out at the edge of the right of way,  that you wont get a ticket?  No there are pedantic officious people in all walks of life.  

On 8/31/2018 at 9:15 AM, JHCC said:

...the warning needs to be given...    

I suppose.  think it could have been handled in a way that allowed further exchange from the OP and didn't chase him away after his first post?  OOOOH he got moderated, he got moderated good!

Keep it up and find out

[Glenn]

The OP WAS NOT moderated.

The thread was closed and it was posted "as the ore belongs to the RR COMPANY and its theft to remove it with out written permission".  The thread was later reopened for discussion and additional information about how the RR Company works.

Illegal activity should not be discussed on the site. If it comes up, we try to inform the poster that it is illegal activity. We can not stop them, but we can inform them. 

[MotoMike]

ok