What is the colour of a rock contain iron?

Answer 1

Because Iron (Fe) oxidizes (combines with oxygen in the environment) very readily, there is no "iron ore" instead, the ores of iron are those combinations that have a high iron content and from which iron can be smelted (melted out) or chemically seperated. The best known of these minerals is Hematite. We run into a problem though when we ask what color is hematite? Primarily, the most common ores are red but, a great deal may be black, depending on inpurities and the degree of weathering/oxydation. Next we have magnetite, which while it may present a more complex crystal form is more commonly found as a black near powder. Try this, take a magnet and run it through anything that looks like a black stain on the open ground. Chances are that what the magnet picks up will be magnetite. It is one of the few minerals that is naturally magnetic (Becomes more strongly magnetic when heated, by the way) Some magnetite is so strongly magnetic as a matter of fact that well formed masses or crystals are found in nature and used to be called "lode stone" and were probably the first magnets found by man. The only source of iron as an ore is from meteorites, meteors of iron nickle are the most common variety and since, there is no oxygen in space for the iron to react with, we often see iron deposits that are really meteor impacts, such as our famous meteor crater here in Arizona. That iron is usually the usual metalic gray or streaked with red or black depending upon the time it has been here and how much it has weathered