Dry high intensity magnetic separation (DHIMS) is investigated to process a lean hematite ore. It was found that the feed particle size and the drum rotation speed have significant influences on the separation performance, and a magnetic concentrate assaying 36.22% Fe with 75.97% recovery is achievable from the ore assaying 29.14% Fe at a coarse particle size below 10 mm. While the DHIMS is applied to process a lean limonite ore, a similar separation phenomenon is observed to that of the hematite ore. It was concluded that DHIMS may significantly improve the economic viability for exploration of lean iron ores.