Global iron ore reserves 2023, by top country

The reserves of crude iron ore in Australia, the country with the world's largest iron ore reserves, were estimated to be approximately 58 billion metric tons in 2023. Iron ore and iron metal productionIron ore are rocks and minerals that can be heated and used to extract metallic iron in an economically feasible method. Both the iron and steel industries worldwide are reliant on iron ore as a primary source of iron. A large majority of the mined iron ore is used in steelmaking, used as a raw material to produce pig iron, which is subsequently utilized as a main component in steel. Iron ore minerals are mostly found as hematite and magnetite. Leading iron ore producing countries worldwide Australia and Brazil are among the world’s largest iron ore producers and hold a large portion of the world’s iron ore reserves. Australia makes up half of the world’s iron ore exports. Brazil exported around 20 percent of the world's total iron exports. As of 2022, Brazil had reserves of 15 billion metric tons of iron content and 34 billion metric tons of crude ore. Brazil produced 410 million metric tons of iron ore in 2022. Carajas iron mine Some of the world’s largest mines are found in Brazil, such as Vale’s Carajas iron mine in Northern Brazil. Carajas has approximately 7.2 billion metric tons of proven iron ore reserves. The mine produces about 300,000 metric tons of iron ore material daily. Its proximity to the Carajas National Forest has prompted sustainable environmental actions. Vale has implemented a program to restore vegetation in former mining sites as well as a monitoring network to provide data on factors such as air and water quality and noise pollution.

澳大利亚，全球最大的铁矿石储备国，截至2023年，其原生铁矿石储备量估计约为580亿公吨。铁矿石及铁金属的生产：铁矿石，即能够通过经济可行的方式加热提取金属铁的岩石和矿物。全球的钢铁工业均依赖于铁矿石作为铁的主要来源。开采的铁矿石中，大部分用于钢铁生产，作为生产生铁的原料，而生铁随后被用作钢铁的主要成分。铁矿石矿物主要以赤铁矿和磁铁矿的形式存在。在全球范围内，主要的铁矿石生产国包括澳大利亚和巴西，它们是世界上最大的铁矿石生产国之一，占据了全球铁矿石储备的大部分份额。澳大利亚占据了全球铁矿石出口的一半。巴西出口了全球铁矿石出口总量的约20%。截至2022年，巴西拥有150亿公吨的铁含量和340亿公吨的原生矿石储备。2022年，巴西生产了4.1亿吨铁矿石。卡拉贾斯铁矿：巴西境内拥有世界上一些最大的矿山，如位于巴西北部的巴西瓦莱公司的卡拉贾斯铁矿。卡拉贾斯拥有约72亿公吨的已证实铁矿石储备。该矿山每日生产约30万吨铁矿石。由于其靠近卡拉贾斯国家森林，促使采取可持续的环保措施。瓦莱公司实施了一项恢复前采矿地植被的计划，并建立了一个监测网络，以提供有关空气和水质以及噪音污染等数据。