How do scientists extract pure iron from mineral ores?

Scientists extract pure iron from mineral ores primarily through a process called smelting, most commonly using a blast furnace. This method involves heating iron ore, typically oxides like hematite or magnetite, with coke (a fuel derived from coal) and limestone at very high temperatures. The coke burns, providing heat and producing carbon monoxide, which acts as a reducing agent. This reducing agent removes oxygen from the iron oxides, converting them into metallic iron. Impurities in the ore, known as gangue, combine with the limestone flux to form a molten slag that floats on top of the molten iron and is tapped off separately.1234

An alternative method is direct reduction (DR), which extracts iron below its melting point, often using natural gas to produce reducing gases. The resulting product, direct-reduced iron (DRI), still contains gangue that must be removed later in steelmaking.5