Magnetite (Fe3O4) has a very important property - it is a...

Magnetite (Fe3O4) has a very important property - it is a magnetic mineral. This property is fundamental in aiding discovery through magnetic surveys and in ore processing. Ore can be crushed, passed over a magnet and the magnetite is extracted leaving a clean high grade product.
It occurs as four general types:
 Banded iron formation (BIF’s) or BIF/ gneiss - WA/SA styles
 Taconite – USA
 Skarn – Tasmania
 Magnetite Siltstone – NSW/SA – new style Braemar Iron SA/NSW
Magnetite is a higher grade, cleaner product than hematite
In situ magnetite ore grades are lower than commercially exploited hematite ores but after processing a product with much higher iron grades and much lower costly impurities is produced. All iron fines are recombined to form a suitable product for steel making and magnetite can be combined with bentonite (a clay) and heat to produce pellets. The high quality pellets are used in blast furnaces or Direct Reduction (DR) furnaces to make steel and is a preferred product by steel makers as they greatly increase the efficiency of the furnace, reducing costs and pollution. Magnetite and pellets attract a higher price over hematite ores for this reason.
Magnetite is a major source for iron
In 2010 magnetite accounted for approximately 30% of global iron furnace feed for steel production. In Australia, this figure was only 3%.