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Iron Ore

Iron ore is a natural mineral deposit that contains iron in various concentrations and is the raw material for the production of steel. It is the world’s most extracted metal and the basis for the production of steel, one of the biggest commodities worldwide. More than 86% percent of iron ore is extracted from Australia, Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa. All raw materials are ultimately confined to these locations of supply.

Impact Rating

Type

Score

Biodiversity

1 /4

Climate

4 /4

Land

2 /4

Freshwater

4 /4

Ocean

1 /4

Human

4 /4

Key Statistics

98 %

of iron ore goes into steel production.

> 50 %

of all steel is used in construction

Method of Extraction

  • Mostly open-pit mining, also known as surface mining.

Key Impacts

1

Habitat destruction.

Open-pit mining requires large surface areas and necessitates the removal of topsoil and vegetation to access materials that lie underneath. Therefore, existing biodiversity, such as habitats of animal and plant species, will be destroyed during the time of material extraction. Mining impacts highly depend on existing conditions on-site before an intervention.
2

Associated infrastructure.

Because iron mines are frequently located in remote and ecologically diverse areas, mining requires access to these sites and the energy infrastructure to support mining operations. Linear infrastructure such as roads, power lines, and rail lines can lead to habitat fragmentation and impacts along their route. Making these regions more accessible in turn leads to increased traffic and settlement, with all its associated impacts on pollution, resource use, and waste.
3

Water use.

Ore mining and processing require large quantities of freshwater. Many mines are located in areas of water stress, exacerbating the local scarcity even further.
4

Contamination and pollution of soil and water.

Large quantities of water can become contaminated with environmentally harmful tailings being stored in dams, which can present a severe risk in case of dam failure. Dust and particulate matter released during mining can have adverse effects on the respiratory systems of nearby humans and animals.

Explainer

Tailings are the waste materials that remain after the extraction of valuable minerals from an ore during the mining process. They are typically in the form of a fine-grained, slurry-like substance and are stored in large impoundments or tailings dams. Tailings contain residual minerals, chemicals, and other by-products of the mining process, such as crushed rocks and processing chemicals.

Existing safeguards and certifications

  • Responsible Steel has developed an international standard that includes criteria for responsible sourcing and biodiversity. At the moment it is only applicable to operational steelmaking and related sites that process raw materials for steelmaking or that produce steel products. The standard does not apply to service providers, mine sites or sites producing final products made with steel components.

Best practice and recommendations

When wanting to procure iron ore, here are 4 key considerations to reduce the ecological footprint of your material choice.

Prioritise best use of existing assets.

Clients and design teams should aim to maintain and refurbish existing steel structures where possible.

Prioritise reused materials.

Clients and designers should prioritise reused steel wherever steel is used to avoid the need for virgin material.
Learn more about steel reuse

Prioritise recycled materials.

Where procuring reused materials and products is not possible, the use of recycled products, or their amount of recycled content, should be maximised. However, as the supply of recycled material is limited by scrap availability, specifying recycled materials above the availability dictated by recycling rates will not lead to better outcomes.

Optimise Design

Engineers and architects should lower the amount of steel with efficient design of steel structures, in line with the resource use mitigation hierarchy.

Summary

Land use change driven by mining is a major environmental concern, affecting ecology and local populations via habitat destruction, water use, and pollution. The provenance of the iron ore used in steel products is difficult to identify for built environment practitioners due to opaque global supply chains. As a high-impact material, its embodied ecological impacts should be addressed using the resource use mitigation hierarchy. 

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Industry Solutions

Responsible Steel

A not-for-profit organisation, ResponsibleSteel™ is a global multistakeholder standard and certification initiative.

Explore Solutions in UKGBC’s Library

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Embodied Ecological Impacts

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