In this experiment, iron ore coal briquettes containing different types of coal were heated to investigate their reactions. When heated, the coal's volatile part is released early on. With iron ore hard coal briquettes, iron oxide is first turned into FeO by the volatile compounds and then into Fe by carbon. Meanwhile, iron oxide in iron ore soft coal briquettes is continuously converted into metallic iron, Fe, by both the volatile and carbon. For a mix of hard and soft coal in the briquettes, the iron oxide is partly converted to Fe by the soft coal's carbon and the rest converted to FeO by the hard coal's carbon.