Magnetite Uses

Magnetite is one the several oxides of iron and is the mineral with the highest or the strongest magnetic property on earth. Magnetite is one of the important ores of iron and is distinguished from the other iron ores by its tendency to attract and get attracted to magnets. Magnetite, to be more specific is a ferrimagnetic mineral or the mineral in which the magnetic moments of the mineral atoms stand in opposition on different sub lattices. This principle of magnetite is similar to antiferromagnetism except for the fact that in ferrimagnetic minerals like magnetite the atomic magnetic moments that stand in opposition are not equal. Magnetite falls under the types of minerals that belong to the spinel group. Many other minerals like graphite, chromite and hercynite are also members of the spinel group of minerals. Magnetite has wide varieties of uses. To learn more on the uses of magnetite, scroll down. 

• Magnetite as a mineral has a wide variety of uses right from serving as magnetic decor to keeping trains from moving off track. One of the most significant uses of magnetite lies in its iron ore status and its industrial importance in manufacturing steel. Magnetite is also an important component of power plants and is used to generate electricity.
• Magnetite because of its magnetic properties is also widely used in compasses and other navigation devices. This mineral also serves as an excellent abrasive that is much cleaner and comes with low toxicity than abrasives that have a silica base.
• Magnetite is used to increase the density of the aggregate portion of concrete to twice that of standard concrete. In other words, magnetite if included in concrete provides ‘heavy concrete’ which is today a common building material in nuclear plants. It is also used in the mitigation of radioactivity in x-ray facilities.
• The sand and gravel bed filters that are used by many municipal water treatment plants can also benefit by using heavy aggregates in the sand bed. Magnetite can be used as a heavy aggregate since the heavier specific gravity of magnetite aggregates allows an aggressive backwash during the cleaning phase without loss of any product. Magnetite being magnetic in nature can easily be scavenged back after the filtering process from the waste water streams.
• Another important use of magnetite is its use in the heavy media process in coal mining. Magnetite can be added to water in the form of a very fine powder to create heavy media slurry that has a higher specific gravity than only water. This mixture allows the heavier waste materials such as pulverized rocks to sink and separate providing you with pure lighter coal. Magnetite, however, can be re-used in the coal upgrading process without the use of industrial chemicals.
• Magnetite mixed with aluminium oxide can provide you with an abrasive known as ‘emery’ which is a natural mixture of magnetite and corundum. Producing this abrasive synthetically with the help of magnetite allows control over the particle size and the relative profusion of aluminium oxide and magnetite.
• Magnetite is also valued and cherished by alternative medicine practitioners for the healing qualities that it contains. A bracelet of magnetite is used to deal with migraines, anklets made out of magnetite are used for knee joints, heel spurs for problems in the feet and necklaces for back, shoulder or neck problems.