State Mineral

Red Iron Ore

(Hematite)

Adopted in 1967

Hematite, an oxide of iron (Fe2O3), is also known as "red iron ore" and in 1967 was designated as the State Mineral by the Alabama Legislature.

Hematite was mined for many years in the Valley and Ridge area of central and northeastern Alabama. The mining of hematite was once the state's most developed non-fuel mineral industry, and the occurrence of hematite with nearby deposits of coal (a fossil fuel) and limestone (used as flux) led to the development of Birmingham as an industrial center. Iron ore mining in the state ceased in 1975 primarily owing to the availability of inexpensive higher grade imported ores. Red iron ore (from the Red Mountain Formation) has been mined in Bibb, Blount, De Kalb, Cherokee, Etowah, Jefferson, St. Clair, and Tuscaloosa Counties. Hematite occurs along the entire length of Red Mountain which passes through these counties. From about l840 to 1975, approximately 375 million tons of iron ore were mined in Alabama, principally from the Birmingham red-ore district. In 1904 Birmingham iron ore was used in casting the statue of Vulcan, which stands atop Red Mountain as the largest cast-iron structure ever made.

In 1967 the state legislature approved Act no. 503 adopting red iron ore, with the scientific name of hematite as the state mineral.

Color

Red (often more of a maroon or a pink), and brown, purple, or orange coloration in sedimentary rocks indicates the presence of oxidized iron. In well-oxygenated continental sedimentary environments, the iron in the sediments is oxidized to form hematite, a ferric iron (Fe⁺³) mineral which colors the sediment red, brown, or purple. These rocks are called red beds. Red beds typically indicate deposition in continental (or transitional) sedimentary environments such as flood plains, alluvial fans, and deltas. Red beds can also form in marine environments (due to oxidation of the iron in the sediment after deposition), or to erosion of red sediment from the land. Red beds interlayered with evaporites indicate warm, arid conditions.

Source:
Act 67-503, Acts of Alabama, September 7, 1967
Geological Survey of Alabama. The Geological Survey of Alabama has many maps and publications describing mineral resources in Alabama. Contact the publication office at 420 Hackberry Lane, P.O. Box O Tuscaloosa, AL 35486-9780.