Iron Ore Distribution

• Odisha is the leading producer of iron ore accounting for 51% of total production followed by Chhattisgarh (17%), Karnataka (14%), Jharkhand (11%), and the remaining (7%) production was reported from Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.
• Geologically, iron ore is owned by the following types of deposits.
• Banded Iron Formation of Precambrian age
• Archean schist belts: Jharkhand, Odisha, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Goa (high-grade deposits).
• Granulite terrain of South India: Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
• Sedimentary Iron Ore Deposits of siderite and limonite composition (30–40% Fe) associated with Ironstone shales of Lower Gondwana age in coalfield areas of Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam.
• Lateritic ores are derived from the subaerial alteration of gneisses, schists, basic lava, etc. under humid tropical conditions. Deccan Trap, Chotnagpur gneisses (30–40% Fe)
• Apatite Magnetite Rocks of Singhbhum Copper Belt: Occur in form of a zone associated with granodiorite on the hanging wall side of Copper lodes.
• Titaniferous and Vanadiferous Magnetite deposits occur in form of lensoidal bodies associated with intrusive ultramafic – gabbroic rocks of Singhbhum (Jharkhand), Mayurbhanj, Kendujhar (Odisha), and Southern districts of Karnataka (Hassan and Tumkuru districts).