Hematite is one of the mostabundant minerals on Earth's surface and in the shallow crust. It is an ironoxide with a chemical composition of Fe2O3. It is acommon rock-forming mineral found in sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneousrocks at locations throughout the world.
Hematite is the most importantore of iron. Although it was once mined at thousands of locations around the world,today almost all of the production comes from a few dozen large deposits wheresignificant equipment investments allow companies to efficiently mine andprocess the ore. Most ore is now produced in China, Australia, Brazil, India,Russia, Ukraine, South Africa, Canada, Venezuela, and the United States.
Hematite has a wide variety of other uses, but theireconomic significance is very small compared to the importance of iron ore. Themineral is used to produce pigments, preparations for heavy media separation,radiation shielding, ballast, and many other products.
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