Small-area XPS and XAES study of the iron ore smelting process

The iron ore deposit of Kerry (north-western Syria) has been sampled; by means of the combined use of small-area x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (SA-XPS), small-area x-ray induced Auger electron spectroscopy (SA-XAES), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), differential thermal analysis (DTA) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), the smelting process of the most iron-rich ore has been studied under a CO atmosphere up to 1570 K. Attention has been focused on the chemical aspects involved during the reduction of the iron ore and on the chemical composition of the non-metallic compounds, i.e. the slags, that result from the smelting process. Furthermore, this information has been compared with that obtained from early iron metallurgy slags and artefacts found in north-western Syria in order to locate the geographical source of the iron ore exploited during the early Iron Age in this region.