However, historically (at least), iron sulfide (iron pyrite), though a common iron mineral, has not been used as an ore for the production of iron metal.
The nodules consist of iron minerals, carbon substances and mica; as the metamorphic temperature rises, minerals such as andalusite or chiastolite increasingly occur.
The team analyzed the distribution and type of iron minerals in pigeon tissues and discovered that they were not magnetosensitive neurons as originally thought.
Heavier minerals, principally gold and fine-grained black sands (various iron minerals) are separated from the paydirt and reconcentrated by this means.