Ingredients of Steel

Iron Ore

Iron ore is a rock that contains iron combined with oxygen. It is sourced from mines around the world. Some of the world's highest quality iron ore comes from Australia.

Coke

Coke is made from coal. Once mined, the coal is crushed and washed. Coal is then baked in coke ovens for about 18 hours. During this process, by-products are removed and coke is produced.

Flux

Flux is a term which describes minerals used to collect impurities during iron and steelmaking. Fluxes used by BlueScope Steel include limestone and dolomite. The flux causes a chemical reaction and the elements not needed for steelmaking combine to form slag.

Molten Iron

Iron is the main ingredient needed to make steel in the Basic Oxygen Steelmaking process. Molten iron is made from iron ore and other ingredients in a blast furnace.

Scrap Steel

Scrap steel comes from many different sources because it is very easily recycled. Some scrap comes from within the Steelworks, where it might have been damaged or is at the end of a batch of one type of steel. It also comes from old car bodies, old ship containers and buildings that have been demolished.

Another source of scrap can be found in our homes. Steel cans (food cans, pet food cans, aerosols, paint cans, etc.) are collected as part of council kerbside collections and can be recycled an infinite number of times.

Alloy

Alloying Materials

Alloying materials are used to give the steel special properties and make different types of steel. Alloying materials can be added as elements, like manganese, aluminium and nickel, or as compounds of iron.

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