ore

Boston Metal has come up with a way of using electricity to remove oxides and other contaminants from iron ore, which is the substance you have to mine from the Earth before you can make new steel.

The process involves distributing the ore within an electrolyte and then using electricity to heat this mixture to 1,600C.

First, iron ore is dissolved into an acidic solution and then an electrical charge causes the iron to collect onto metal plates.

Anderson, whose parents ran a grocery store, grew up in Roseburg, Ore., south of Eugene.

One of his sons, Mike Anderson, a watchmaker who owns Anderson Jewelers in Corvallis, Ore., has an idea.