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How is iron extracted?

Fran Scott learns how iron is extracted from iron ore. The main raw material is iron ore and this arrives by ship in huge quantities from Brazil. Other raw materials include coal and limestone. The coal is converted to coke by heating. Fran visits the blast furnace where iron oxide is reduced to iron by carbon monoxide. The iron that is produced is called pig iron but this is brittle and must be processed into more useful types of iron, or converted to steel. To note this clip was made before the decision to close the steelworks.

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6 minutes

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