Earth’s largest iron ore deposits are a billion years younger than believed, research reveals

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1.3-billion-year-old deep blue iron ore extracted from the Hamersley Province, Western Australia. Credit: Liam Courtney-Davies, Curtin University.

Using a new geochronology technique to accurately measure the age of iron oxide minerals, researchers found the Hamersley deposits formed between 1.4 and 1.1 billion years ago, rather than 2.2 billion years ago as previously estimated. “The energy from this epic geological activity likely triggered the production of billions of tonnes of iron-rich rock across the Pilbara,” Courtney-Davies said in a media statement.

Study co-author Associate Professor Martin Danišík, from the John de Laeter Centre, said the research precisely dated minerals from banded iron formations , which are ancient underwater layers of iron rich rock that can provide significant insights into the Earth’s deep geologic past.

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