Hematite, Ironstone, and Ores
The original "blood stone," hematite is often confused with meteorites to amatuer collectors. It is simply an iron rich sedimentary rock which can look a little like melted metal, albeit red/grey.
Typically when we find Scottish hematite it is red in colour. Red ochre forms on the surface when it is exposed to the wet climate here. It will still polish up a lovely gun metal grey though. We occasionally find it in botryoidal formation where it looks like bubbles.
Magnetite, goethite, and other iron oxides and ores will also appear in this section.
Scotland's Rich Iron Mining History
Scotland has a lengthy association with iron mining and mining innovations. The best iron mining can be found in Lanarkshire and in Ayrshire, with evidence of some of the 19 known types of iron ore in other places. For example, you can find hematite down in Dumfriesshire.
In 1865, iron production in Scotland was 1.164 million tonnes. Nowadays, iron mining is still a common profession, with over 13,000 miners out there, chipping away at the good stuff.
