Jewelry Making

When people make magnetite jewelry, do they carve it out a bigger piece of magnetite, or can it be melted down and molded(without losing it’s magnetic properties) and if it can, does it melt at the same temp. as iron?

I think some of it might be synthetic, but I’m not sure. It is a common mineral, and is mined as iron ore, so there is plenty of natural material available.

The melting point of magnetite is a little bit higher than that of iron. I think even if it was melted, it couldn’t be cast that easily, so chunks of it would still be carved. Any initial magnetism the magnetite had would be lost when heated; however, it will become magnetic if cooled in the presence of a magnetic field. The Earth’s magnetic field will work, or you could apply a stronger field.

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