Sri Lanka Iron Ore Deposits
The high-grade basement of Sri Lanka is composed of several iron ore deposits (Cooray, 1984) (Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකාවේ යකඩ නිධි) . These can be grouped as; i) magnetite deposits, ii) copper-magnetite deposits, and hydrated iron oxide deposits (Cooray, 1984, Herath, 1995). Magnetite iron ore deposits Magnetite deposits have been found in a few places in Sri Lanka such as Wilagedara, Panirendawa, and Buttala. Of them, the magnetite deposit at Wilagedara in the Sandalankawa area was discovered in 1959 while the deposit at Panirendawa in the Chilaw area was found in 1962 (Jayawardena, 1984). Another similar deposit was recorded at Kukurampola in the Buttala area in 2001 (Senaratne et al., 2001). In addition to that, small occurrences of magnetite deposits are found in Mooloya Estate, Hewaheta, and Karametiya (Herath, 1995). The Wilagedara deposit is the first bedded magnetite deposit discovered in the country (Fernando, 1986). Although the deposit is too small to have any commercial significance…
