Help sourcing clean iron sand.

[Smd226]

Hello all, my name is Sean and this is my first post here. Well on to the point. I need some help sourcing as clean and pure as possible iron sand preferably within the United States. I found a college in the region with the equipment to process the iron and make a very clean and simple high carbon steel if I can provide the ingredients. All the places I have found so far won’t give the chemical analysis of the sand, is out of country and shipping is crazy expensive, and or they need me to buy crazy amounts like 25+ tons. Any help to point me in the right direction would be amazing.

thank you,

Sean Dolan

 

 

[George N. M.]

Dear Sean,

As an old geologist I am somewhat confused by your post.  "Sand" is a size measurement of sediment (1/16 mm to 2 mm) which is finer than gravel and coarser than silt.  It can be made of many different minerals, quartz probably being the most common.  Natural sands which are high in iron do occur where iron bearing minerals are being eroded but it is very rarely pure enough to be used directly as iron without smelting to drive off the other elements and is fairly uncommon.

So, are you looking for iron or steel granulated to sand size or something else.

Also, what are you trying to accomplish?  Do you want to make something, such as a blade, and be able to say that you smelted the metal from ore?  If so, that is a pretty complex process which takes equipment, specialized skill, time, and can be dangerous if you don't know what you are doing.  People have smelted small amounts of ore for a long time and various smiths have experimented with traditional ways of obtaining iron.  Then, once you have a hunk of iron you need to convert it to steel.  That is another long and complex process. 

I'm not trying to discourage you but we need to know what you are trying to do before we can offer any useful suggestions.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[JHCC]

I think Smd226 is looking for magnetite sand to use in iron smelting, but I'm sure they'll provide their own clarification.

[Smd226]

Sorry, haha I’m all new to this. I’m not doing the smelting my self, I’m Not smart enough, a metallurgical research department at a large college is doing it for me. The agreement was I provide the materials and they will smelt it for me as to help teach the incoming interns and students about the equipment. They would do their best to make it as clean as possible but they cannot guarantee it being within my specification range. I wanted to provide them as clean and pure of raw iron as I could obtain to help the process. I already have a source of really clean carbon through a work connection. It’s kind of an informal arrangement I’m sorry. Its all just to make a very simple high carbon steel that’s as close to just iron and carbon as can be done. 

[George N. M.]

Try doing a google search for "iron granules" or "iron shot."  I found several sources.  For some you have to email them for a quote depending on the amount you need.  Even Amazon has some of what you may need.

BTW, there seems to be a run on new folk on IFI from the Cowboy State recently.  Here you are from Casper, another guy recently showed up from Cheyenne, and I'm here in Laramie.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[Smd226]

I’ll have to look again and talk to the venders I just need to have the chemical composition if possible so I don’t have to pay for the testing haha. 
 

whoa that’s crazy I don’t think I’ve ever seen three people from Wyoming in the same place on the internet ever. 

[Frosty]

Is all you wish to do is make an unspecified quantity of simple high carbon steel as a college project? Why not broaden the scope a step and make your own pure iron? Seriously, the BOP is so simple a guy with a cutting torch does it regularly. 

Collect black sand with a magnet in a plastic bag, smelt it and then inject oxygen into the melt. Viola pure iron. Wear PPE, LOTS OF PPE! It's a really exciting process. 

Otherwise it sounds like a college prof has convinced YOU to pay for raw material for his class. Saves on his budget. 

The chance you'll be able to get a supplier to provide a couple pounds with a precise chemical analysis for less than crazy expensive is unrealistic. Find a plant that supplies refined ore to a steel plant and collect spillage by the rail road tracks or heck you might get one of the employees to give you a coffee can full IF you don't annoy them. 

If the college lab has ALL the necessary equipment then it can analyse it, if they don't then what does it matter?

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

OK, what you want is clean magnetite, NOT iron shot or granules---they are already smelted and you would be melting them not smelting and probably not the alloy content you want!

When we did some smelting we were able to buy 100 mesh magnetite that was used in pollution control systems.  We did have to buy 400# as the minimum order; but it was cheap---shipping cost more!  Unfortunately I wasn't on the ore side of things so I don't know where it was sourced.

I do noticed that when I search on 100 mesh magnetite I get a hit for a place that sells it in 5, 10, 50 and 1000 pound amounts so I would hope the minimum order would be pretty low.  May need to see if it would help to have the University order it and you pay for it.

Do they plan to do a bloomery or other method of smelting?

[Joshua R. D.]

It might take a long time but you can get some by taking a strong magnet and dragging it along most creek beds.

You shouldn't have any problem finding some locally since you live in Casper, which is rich in iron (of various forms) but sand usually contains magnetite to some degree.

Heck, if you lived withing driving distance of a beach, I'd just tell you to buy a wide magnet, tie it to your waste so it drags behind you and just go for a 10 minute walk.

Since it's casper, you might be able to get away with doing that in a similarly sandy area, but I'm not %100 on that.

[George N. M.]

If you want to pick up natural magnetite try the sand bars along the North Platte River which are now exposed.  Anywhere you see a dark streak in the sand will have a higher concentration of magnetite.  The inside of the curves of the river will concentrate heavy minerals such as magnetite and gold.  Even better, go upstream to the Pedro Mountains area around Pathfinder and Seminoe Reservoirs where there are occurrences of banded iron formations.  The erosion of these will put more iron minerals into the river sediments.

You could also check the Wyoming Geological Survey's publications on line for iron ore occurrences in the state.  Try Bulletin 50 which is old but the geology hasn't changed. There are at least 3 areas that I can think of off the top of my head that have been mined for iron in Wyoming (the old US Steel mine near South Pass, the Iron Mountain area SW of Chugwater, and the old Colorado Fuel and Iron mine at Sunrise, near Guernsey).  There are other iron ore areas around that have never been mined commercially.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."