Is there pure iron in nature, would that be not become Iron Oxide (rust) immediately because of the humidity? How do we produce iron ore/dust on the lab/industry?
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$\begingroup$ I suppose it depends on what physical state (phase) you mean. There is probably plenty of molten iron in the interior of the earth. Much of the iron in our lithosphere started and never stopped oxidizing when oxygen-producing photosynthetic organisms evolved. To produce unoxidized iron from the oxide you need to reduce it, for instance with carbon, see eg chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Inorganic_Chemistry/… $\endgroup$– Buck Thorn ♦Commented May 15, 2019 at 15:29
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5$\begingroup$ Previously I used to think that the knowledge of iron metallurgy is safely stored in the books and Wikipedia. Turns out I was wrong. It is kinda scary to think that it may die with me. Then again, why bother. Apres moi le deluge! $\endgroup$– Ivan NeretinCommented May 15, 2019 at 16:10
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1$\begingroup$ @IvanNeretin en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telluric_iron ? ;-) $\endgroup$– KarlCommented May 15, 2019 at 19:55
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1$\begingroup$ For @Karl Telluric Iron is either Iron with lots of Carbon, or Iron with Nickel. So I guess Iron really does not exists on its own in Nature. Perhaps only noble metals like Gold or Silver has this property. $\endgroup$– RonPringadiCommented May 15, 2019 at 20:06
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$\begingroup$ @RonPringadi Nope. Silver and gold are always contaminated with each other, + copper, palladium, etc. ;-) $\endgroup$– KarlCommented May 15, 2019 at 20:11
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2 Answers
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Fairly pure iron (or iron/nickel alloys) are found in meteoric iron. Some of these are surprisingly corrosion resistant... close to stainless steels. One well-known example is a dagger from Tutankhamun's tomb. See JSTOR for some more uses of meteoric iron.
As for iron smelting, there is much information on the web, and I suggest you try some research.
answered May 15, 2019 at 17:14
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$\begingroup$ Is it appropriate to describe an alloy as "pure"? $\endgroup$ Commented May 15, 2019 at 17:56
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2$\begingroup$ @WilliamR.Ebenezer Depends on your own conception of what makes a material pure. $\endgroup$– KarlCommented May 15, 2019 at 19:53
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2$\begingroup$ Based on the comment from @Karl the wikipedia article stated "Type 2 telluric iron also contains around 0.05 to 4% nickel, but typically less than 0.7% carbon" Assuming the rest of 99.25% is Iron, this may be the closest one we have to pure Iron in nature. $\endgroup$ Commented May 15, 2019 at 20:09
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Native iron and iron-nickel alloys may be generated within Earth's crust by serpentinization, a mineral reaction in which hot water reacts with iron- and magnesium-rich silicate minerals to produce other minerals with less iron and magnesium and products containing the displaced iron and magnesium.
The displaced magnesium forms basic products, while the displaced iron forms magnetite and reduces water (forming hydrogen) or various other reactants (such as reducing carbon dioxide to methane). Some of the iron ions may also be reduced further to form native iron, or iron and nickel ions may be reduced to give the nickel-iron metallic alloys.
