Iron Ore

• The two main types of ore found in our country are hematite and magnetite.
• The iron ore mines occur in close proximity to the coal fields in the northeastern plateau region.
• About 95 per cent of total reserves of iron ore are located in the States of Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Goa, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
• In Odisha iron ore occurs in a series of hill ranges in Sundergarh, Mayurbhanj and Jhar. The important mines include: Gurumahisani, Sulaipet, Badampahar (Mayurbhanj), Kiruburu (Kendujhar) and Bonai (Sundergarh).
• Jharkhand has some of the oldest iron ore mines like Noamundi and Gua (Singhbhum district) and most of the iron and steel plants are located around them.
• This belt further extends to Durg, Dantewara and Bailadila in Chhattisgarh.
• In Karnataka, iron ore deposits occur in Sandur-Hospet area of Ballari district, Baba Budan hills and Kudremukh in Chikkamagaluru district and parts of Shivamogga, Chitradurg and Tumakuru districts.
• The districts of Chandrapur, Bhandara and Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, Karimnagar and Warangal district of Telangana, Kurnool, Cuddapah and Anantapur districts of Andhra Pradesh, Salem and Nilgiris districts of Tamil Nadu are other iron mining regions.
• Goa has also emerged as an important producer of iron ore.
• Among the States, Odisha recorded the highest production of 52 million tonnes or about 40.4% of the country’s production in 2014-15.
• Chhattisgarh was at the second place with production of 29.4 million tonnes or 22.8% of the total production followed by Karnataka with 20.2 million tonnes or about 15.6% , Jharkhand with 19.2 million tonnes or about 14.9% of the country’s production.
• The remaining 8.1 million tonnes or 6.3% production was reported from Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

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