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 spectro scopy (SA-XPS), small-area x-ray induced Auger electron spectroscopy ( SA-XAES), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectr oscopy (EDS), differential thermal analysis (DTA) and thermal gravimet ric 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 f ocused on the chemical aspects involved during the reduction of the ir on ore and on the chemical composition of the non-metallic compounds, i.e. the slags, that result from the smelting process. Furthermore, th is information has been compared with that obtained from early iron me tallurgy slags and artefacts found in north-western Syria in order to locate the geographical source of the iron ore exploited during the ea rly Iron Age in this region.