Architecture
Global Energy Monitor’s Global Iron Ore Mines Tracker uses a two-level system for organizing information, consisting of both a database and wiki pages with further information. The database tracks iron mines and includes information such as mine owner and parent company, mine operating status, design capacity, annual production since 2022, and location. A wiki page for each plant is created within GEM.wiki, and contains footnoted information.
Research Process
A preliminary list of iron ore mines in each country was gathered from public and private data sources including U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Yearbooks and Mineral Resources Data System, Brazil Mineral Magazine, Brazilian Mineral Yearbook, National Geological Archives of China, and Indian Bureau of Mines, as well as various company and government sources. Prior work by the Climate Trace coalition was also included in the preliminary mine list, and incorporated assets from Mining Data Online and the website Mining Technology in addition to USGS Mineral Yearbooks. Data for proposed iron ore mines was gathered from company announcements, press releases, and government permits, and includes global coverage of iron ore mines proposed as of July 1, 2025. The data was then vetted against additional sources of information, listed below.
Iron ore mine data is updated and maintained through five main sources:
- Corporate reports and data sources from iron ore mine owner and parent companies
- Government data on individual iron ore mines
- Reports by national and regional iron mining and steel industry groups
- News and media reports
- Reports from mining technology manufacturers
Where possible, iron ore mine data is circulated for review to researchers familiar with local conditions and languages.
Wiki Pages
For each iron ore mine, a wiki page is created on Global Energy Monitor’s GEM.wiki. Wiki pages provide a repository for mine details including mine owner, parent company, mine status, design capacity and actual production, and location (coordinates and map), as well as additional in-depth information that may include mine background, financing, environmental impacts, end users, public opposition, aerial photographs, videos, and links to plant environmental permits. Under standard wiki convention, all information is linked to a published reference, such as a news article, company or government report, or a regulatory permit. In order to ensure data integrity in the open-access wiki environment, Global Energy Monitor researchers review all edits of project wiki pages.
Design Capacity and Actual Production
Design capacity includes the permitted or company-declared amount of iron ore the mine can extract per year in thousands of metric tonnes per annum. Run-of-mine is recorded where available, otherwise capacities of final products such as lump and fines, concentrate, and pellets are included as capacity. Production is actual tonnes of run-of-mine, when available, or iron ore product per annum produced by the mine. Due to the nature of mine exploration and planning, actual production can exceed design capacity when reserves and/or resources prove to be larger than initially identified or a mine extracts beyond its intended capacity.
Mineral Resources and Reserves
The tracker collects data on iron reserves and resources at each operation and project in thousands of metric tonnes following JORC reporting standards as closely as possible. The Total Reserve figure includes both proven and probable reserves. The Total Resource figure includes measured, indicated, and inferred resources. A subset of these (e.g. only proven reserves, or only measured and indicated resources) may be recorded when available data is incomplete. Resources are reported inclusive of reserves as much as possible.
Mine Status Categories
Proposed: A mine is considered “proposed” if at any stage prior to that (announced, leasing, permitting, construction, etc.)
Operating: A mine is considered “operating” if iron is coming out of the ground for commercial purposes (including “test operations” in China).
Shelved: A proposed mine is considered “shelved” if there are no updates or evidence the project is proceeding after 2 years.
Retired: A mine is considered “retired” if it has been formally closed or is non-operational for more than one year with no indicated plans to restart operations.
Mothballed: A mine is considered “mothballed” if it is not operational for more than 6 months but has not been formally closed or retired. This includes mines on “care and maintenance”. We consider them “operating” mines if the “care and maintenance” was temporary, and mothballed if it’s longer than 6 months.
Cancelled: A proposed mine is “cancelled” if there are no updates or evidence the project is proceeding after 3 years, or a formal announcement is made from corporate or government authorities.
Mapping
To allow easy public access to the results, Global Energy Monitor worked with Earth Genome to develop a map-based and table-based interface. In the case of exact coordinates, locations have been visually determined using Google Maps, Google Earth, Planet Labs, or Wikimapia. For proposed projects, exact locations, if available, are from permit applications or other company documentation. If the location of a plant or proposal is not known, GEM identifies the most approximate location.