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Iron is the chemical element at the heart of steel, and by extension of industrialisation. Justin Rowlatt explores key moments in the Industrial Revolution here in Britain that transformed this most abundant of metal elements into the key material out of which modern life is constructed.

But what will happen when the whole world has finished industrialising? Will we even need to dig iron out of the ground any more? And what does the recent collapse in iron ore prices say about the economic progress of China and India? Justin speaks to material scientist Daniel Beat Mueller, and to the head of iron ore operations at mining giant Rio Tinto, to find out.