Cassiterite
The only significant tin ore. Its high density is why tin has been recovered by panning alluvial gravels for millennia.
Columbite-Tantalite (coltan)
A solid-solution series: niobium-rich at one end, tantalum-rich at the other. Source of both metals, and a designated…
Hematite
70% iron when pure. Direct-shipping hematite ore needs little processing, which is why it built the Pilbara and Carajás.
Ilmenite
The dominant titanium mineral, about 45-65% TiO2, mined from heavy mineral sand deposits along ancient shorelines.
Magnetite
72% iron when pure but usually low grade in the ground; it is upgraded by magnetic separation into high-purity pellet…
Pyrochlore
The niobium mineral of carbonatite deposits, and the reason niobium supply is so geographically concentrated.
Pyrolusite
The principal manganese ore, and the mineral that gave the world its first battery cathode.
Rutile
Nearly pure titanium dioxide at about 95%. Scarcer and more valuable than ilmenite, and the preferred feed for titanium…
Uraninite (pitchblende)
The main uranium ore. The Athabasca Basin's unconformity deposits reach grades over 15% U — a hundred times typical.