Iron ore and metallurgical coal are the 2 main raw materials mined for the steel making process. ![[Pasted image 20231125230101.png]] ## Core Drilling Mining starts with geological exploration and ends with the delivery of raw materials. At the geological exploration stage, miners explore for new deposits, and use drilling to define the potential of existing mine sites. They model the mineral resources that have been identified and plan the mine in a way that allows for the optimum extraction of the valuable minerals it contains. ## Open Pit Mining Most iron ore mining operations use the ‘open pit’ method, where miners drill into the rock and blast the ore-bearing material loose with explosives. Huge excavators are then used to gather the loosened ore. To mine metallurgical coal, which will later be turned into coke, it’s usually necessary to sink vertical mine shafts to access coal which is deposited in layers or ‘seams’ underground. ## Haul truck Iron ore-bearing material is loaded by excavators into enormous haul trucks for transportation to processing plants nearby. The largest haul trucks can accommodate as much as 450 metric tonnes and can have wheels with diameters approaching four metres. ## Concentrator In the processing stage, the mined material is transformed into usable raw material. For iron ore this involves crushing the ore and then concentrating it in different ways, for example by milling, flotation or magnetic separation. At some sites the ore is processed further and pelletised for use in direct reduced iron (DRI) steelmaking.