Sponge iron

Clang! Clang! Clang!
Pickaxe struck the walls rhythmically.
Miner stopped for a few seconds to wipe his brows from sweat.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Another hour passed and he was getting tired.
"C'mon! There's got to be something here!", he thought to himself.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Suddenly, a large part of the wall fell off, uncovering the silver gleam of metal behind it.
Miner stopped, not really sure what kind of ore he was looking at.
He tried to clean it off with his red gloves. But as he touched it, the ore started to change its color. It became as red as his gloves were just a second ago. And when he looked at them, they became completely gray.

— Discovery of the sponge iron.

Properties

Material Characteristics

Unprocessed, sponge iron ore is silver or gray with a slight silvery gleam. In the form of ingots or Colorful threads and before the process of dyeing, it is silver and reflective like a mirror.

Physical & Chemical Properties

In its structure, sponge iron is almost completely identical to normal iron. If the ore or processed ingots of sponge iron are touched with something of color other than their own (gray or silver), the metal starts to absorb the Colors contained within it, leaving it devoid of them.
This property of sponge iron is used in the process of Color embroidery. The weapons created out of iron are similar in their properties to the bronze ones. Trying to create any alloy using the sponge iron destroys its ability to absorb colors, turning it into normal iron.

Type

Ore/Mineral

Value

As the biggest deposits of sponge iron start to dwindle, the value of the sponge iron starts to slowly grow (until a new deposit will be found).

Rarity

Still common

Boiling / Condensation Point

2 862 °C

Melting / Freezing Point

1538 °C

Density

7,877 g/cm³

Common State

Solid

Related Technologies

• Color embroidery

Geology & Geography

Sponge iron can be found in small quantities all around the world. The biggest ore deposits could be found on the southern half of the continent and around Zetalph, but long exploitation of them significantly reduced their size over the years.
With the world (and with it - the soil) being more and more warped, a lot of deposits of sponge iron ore have been contaminated. They still can be used, however, changing their Color at this point is impossible.