Between deposits
Different sources carry different proportions of hydrated and anhydrous material, so iron content and loss on ignition differ between them even though both are correctly described the same way.
Material — A Descriptive Grouping
Limonite iron ore
Limonite is a descriptive grouping, not a mineral species with a fixed formula. It is applied to hydrated iron oxide material that is not consistently one mineral, which is precisely why the name cannot guarantee a composition, a grade or a behaviour.
What the name does tell you is which properties are worth pinning down. This page works through those — what moves between lots of this kind, what evidence fixes each one, and what changes in the purchase when it drifts.
Price on request. No composition, grade, sizing or performance is asserted on this page.
Hydrated, so the water content is the variable
Because the material carries water within its structure, both the loss on ignition and the moisture as delivered are properties of the lot rather than constants of the name. Together they decide the mass balance and the tonnage you actually receive.
Variability worksheet
Five properties that move, and what fixes each one
For each property: why it varies across material described this way, the evidence that pins it down for a specific lot, what changes in the purchase when it drifts, and the question to answer about your own tolerance.
- Why it moves
- The grouping covers material that is not a single mineral species, so how much of it is hydrated, and in what form, can differ between deposits and between lots from the same deposit.
- Evidence that fixes it
- A mineralogical identification, and the method that produced it, rather than a trade name alone.
- What changes when it drifts
- Different proportions of hydrated and anhydrous material in a lot change how much water it gives off on heating, and therefore the mass balance through a process.
- The question for your own requirement
- Do you need the mineralogy identified per lot, or is a per-deposit description enough for your use?
Why a worksheet rather than a specification: the properties above do not have values that apply to the grouping. Each is fixed per lot, by that lot's own determinations. A worksheet records which of them you have pinned down and which are still open — which is the question an offer has to answer.
One lot is not the next
Why a figure from one consignment does not carry
Material described this way varies between deposits and between lots from the same deposit. That makes the evidence a per-lot question rather than a property of the name.
Between lots from one deposit
The same source does not guarantee a constant product. How much water the material carries, and how it is sized, can move from one consignment to the next.
Through handling and transport
Moisture changes as material is stockpiled, loaded and shipped. What was determined at the point of sampling is the figure the documents carry, not necessarily what arrives.
The bounded comparison
Limonite sits beside goethite and hematite as an iron oxide material, and each is described here on its own terms. They are mineralogical neighbours, not interchangeable grades — a comparison between them is bounded by that, and where the figures were established differently, the numbers are not describing the same thing.
Where a lot of this material is destined for a plant rather than a trader, the acceptance basis changes: see the integrated mills page for what an internal specification shifts, or the pellet plants page where consistency between lots carries as much weight as the mean figure.
What this page does not claim
- No iron content, impurity level or grade for any lot.
- No reduction behaviour, furnace suitability or process outcome.
- No size range, moisture figure or loss on ignition value.
- No stock, origin, mine or availability.
Lot evidence record
Record what the lot's documents actually state
Each field below corresponds to a property that moves across this grouping. Enter what you hold; the record reports which are still unevidenced and flags any figure stated without the basis that makes it comparable.
How the make-up was established, and by which method.
The iron content of the lot, as assayed.
The analytical standard behind the figure.
The figure and whether the portion was dried or as received.
The figure and whether the tonne is wet or dry.
The as-delivered sizing of the lot.
The method that produced the size record.
Any test run on this material through the intended route.
Volume required and over what schedule.
The place, and the shipping term that reaches it.
0 of 10 fields completed.
Nothing entered yet
No result is shown because nothing has been stated. The grouping name alone is not evidence, so the record waits for the lot's own figures.
Method and limits
- No composition, grade, size range or behaviour is supplied, suggested or defaulted here.
- The record reports completeness and basis. It does not judge whether a figure suits your process.
- Nothing entered is stored or transmitted until you choose to send it.
Destination planning
Where the consignment is going
The delivery place and the term that reaches it change the documents and the handling. Open the market you are actually shipping into.
United Arab Emirates
A hydrated material carries water, so the received tonnage at Jebel Ali or Khalifa Port depends on the basis the offer was written on. Name the delivery place before the Incoterm means anything.
Plan a deliverySaudi Arabia
Consignments into Dammam or Jeddah typically move inland, so the quotation has to reach the inland place rather than stop at the port. Say whether the rail or road leg sits inside your requirement.
Plan a deliveryQatar
Hamad Port consignments are usually cleared against a document set agreed in advance. Name the consignee and whether the assay and moisture documents are needed before discharge rather than after.
Plan a deliveryKuwait
Shuwaikh and Shuaiba movements are short-sea legs, so the loading form affects handling more than the voyage. State whether the requirement is containerised or breakbulk.
Plan a deliveryBahrain
Khalifa Bin Salman Port deliveries often connect to a mainland industrial consumer, so the delivery place may not be the port itself. Name the final place and the Incoterm that reaches it.
Plan a deliveryOman
Sohar and Duqm consignments sit close to industrial zones where the receiving site may take delivery directly. State the port or zone, the delivery term that reaches it, and any origin documentation your end use requires.
Plan a delivery
Buyer FAQ
Questions that come up once a limonite offer is on the table
These are the points buyers and technical traders raise when a grouping name is doing the work a specification ought to do.
Is limonite a mineral with a fixed composition?
No, and that is the practical point. Limonite is a descriptive grouping applied to hydrated iron oxide material that is not consistently one mineral species. Because of that, the name does not carry a guaranteed iron content, a fixed impurity profile or a defined behaviour. It tells you the material is hydrated and roughly which family it belongs to, and leaves the rest to the lot's own determinations.
Does limonite behave a particular way in a furnace?
No universal behaviour should be assumed from the name. How a lot behaves in a process depends on its own composition, how much water it carries, how it is prepared and the conditions it meets. Two materials both correctly described as limonite can behave differently. That is why the test package is built from the lot rather than from the label, and why a figure from one material should not be carried across to another.
Why does the mass basis matter so much for this material?
Because the material is handled wet and is hydrated, the moisture it carries is a significant part of what arrives. Two offers for the same iron content quoted on different bases — one per wet tonne, one per dry tonne — describe different quantities of iron for the same money, and the gap is material at bulk volume. The moisture figure and its basis determine what you actually receive, so they belong in the enquiry rather than in the footnotes.
What changes if the lot-to-lot variation is wide?
It changes the purchase from a single assessment into an ongoing one. Where successive shipments vary, the figure that matters is the spread between lots as well as the average of them, and a single certificate describing one consignment cannot speak to that. Lot-to-lot records are a different document from a certificate, and worth asking for by name where consistency carries weight in your process.
What should a limonite enquiry include?
The mineralogical identification and the method behind it; the iron figure with its analytical method; loss on ignition together with whether the portion was dried or as received; the moisture figure with an explicit wet or dry basis; each impurity component stated separately; the size distribution with its method and sieve series; any preparation or beneficiation test run on the material; and the quantity, schedule, destination and delivery terms. Where something is unknown, say so, so the offer can flag it rather than assume it.
Qualified enquiry
Send the lot's evidence, with its bases
Attach what your documents state for this consignment. The commercial desk responds against that evidence, so what is missing is visible on both sides rather than assumed away.
Send this requirement
Attach the lot evidence record or state the fields directly. Nothing is pre-filled.