Iron Ore Lumpare rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted.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.