Bethel Iron Insert EarthCache

Bethel Iron Insert

Bring a Magnet and have some fun.

Bethel is a Canadian unincorporated community in Charlotte County, New Brunswick. As you travel east on the number 1 highway there is a large iron deposit in a granite fold. This can only be reached on the east bound lane. There is a large wide parking spot to pull off the road. 

The origin of iron can be ultimately traced to formation through nuclear fusion in stars and most of the iron is thought to have originated in dying stars that are large enough to collapse or explode as supernovae. Although iron is the fourth-most abundant element in the Earth's crust, comprising about 5%, the vast majority is bound in silicate or more rarely carbonate minerals. The thermodynamic barriers to separating pure iron from these minerals are formidable and energy intensive, therefore all sources of iron used by human industry exploit comparatively rarer iron oxide minerals, primarily hematite.

Prior to the industrial revolution, most iron was obtained from widely available goethite or bog ore. Prehistoric societies used laterite as a source of iron ore. Historically, much of the iron ore utilized by industrialized societies has been mined from predominantly hematite deposits with grades of around 70% Fe. These deposits are commonly referred to as "direct shipping ores" or "natural ores".

Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in colour from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the form of magnetite (Fe3O4, 72.4% Fe), hematite (Fe2O3, 69.9% Fe), goethite (FeO(OH), 62.9% Fe), limonite (FeO(OH)·n(H2O), 55% Fe) or siderite (FeCO3, 48.2% Fe).

Iron-ore mining methods vary by the type of ore being mined. Ores containing very high quantities of hematite or magnetite (greater than about 60% iron) are known as "natural ore" or "direct shipping ore", meaning they can be fed directly into iron-making blast furnaces.

Iron ore is the raw material used to make pig iron, which is one of the main raw materials to make steel—98% of the mined iron ore is used to make steel. Indeed, it has been argued that iron ore is "more integral to the global economy than any other commodity, except perhaps oil".

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Questions:

1. How high is the iron deposit?

2. How wide is the iron deposit?

3. Will a magnet stick to the iron deposit?

4. Will a magnet stick to the rock outside the iron deposit?

5. Post a picture in your log with a personal item or hand in picture to prove you were there.

[REQUIRED] In accordance with the updated guidelines from Geocaching Headquarters published in June 2019, photos are now an acceptable logging requirement and WILL BE REQUIRED TO LOG THIS CACHE. Please provide a photo of yourself or a personal item in the picture to prove you visited the site.