Ilemenite - Menacanite, Titanic Iron Ore Composition & Structure

Composition. Ferrous titanate, FeTiO3 N= Oxygen 31.6, titanium 31.6, iron 36.8. By the introduction of ferric oxide, the ratio contains magnesium replacing the ferrous iron.

Crystallization. Hexagonal-rhombohedral; tri-rhombohedral. Crystals usually tic tabular with prominent basal planes and small rhombohedral truncations. Faces of the third order rhombohedron are. Crystal angles, etc., close to those for hematite.

Structure. Usually massive, compact; also in grains or as sand. Often in thin plates.

Physical Properties. H. = 5.5-6  G. = 4.7. Metallic to submetallic luster. Color iron-black to brownish red. Sometimes magnetic without heating.

Test. Infusible. May be magnetic without heating. Fine powder fused in R.F. with sodium carbonate yields a magnetic mass.  After fusion with sodium carbonate the fusion can be dissolved in hydrochloric acid, and when the solution is boiled with tin it assumes a violet color titanium)

Occurrence. Occurs as beds and lenticular bodies enveloped in gneiss and other crystalline metamorphic rocks. Frequently found in veins or large segregated masses near the borders of Igneous rocks.  Often associated with magnetite. Also as an accessory mineral in eruptive rocks. Found in large quantities at Kragero and other localities in Norway; at Miask in the Ilmen Mountains; at Bay St. Orange Country, New York, with the magnetite deposits of the Adirondack region.

Use. Has practically no commercial use. A little of it present in a body of magnetite iron ore makes the ore so difficult to smelt as to render it of little value.