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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Electric phosphate smelting furnace in a TVA chemical plant (1942)

Smelting is a process of applying heat to an ore, to extract a base metal.[1] It is a

form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores,
including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a
chemical- reducing agent to decompose the ore, driving off other elements as gases
or slag and leaving the metal base behind. The reducing agent is commonly a fossil
fuel source of carbon, such as coke—or, in earlier times, charcoal.[2] The oxygen in
the ore binds to carbon at high temperatures as the chemical potential energy of the
bonds in carbon dioxide (CO2) is lower than the bonds in the ore.
The carbon source acts as a chemical reactant to remove oxygen from the ore,
yielding the purified metal element as a product. The carbon source is oxidized in
two stages. First, carbon (C) combusts with oxygen (O2) in the air to produce carbon
monoxide (CO). Second, the carbon monoxide reacts with the ore (e.g. Fe 2O3) and
removes one of its oxygen atoms, releasing carbon dioxide (CO 2). After successive
interactions with carbon monoxide, all of the oxygen in the ore will be removed,
leaving the raw metal element (e.g. Fe).[3] As most ores are impure, it is often
necessary to use flux, such as limestone (or dolomite), to remove the accompanying
rock gangue as slag. This calcination reaction also frequently emits carbon dioxide.
Smelting most prominently takes place in a blast furnace to produce pig iron, which
is converted into steel.
Plants for the electrolytic reduction of aluminium are also referred to as aluminium
smelters.

Process[edit]

Copper smelter, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia

Electrolytic cells at an aluminum smelter in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, France

Smelting involves more than just melting the metal out of its ore. Most ores are the
chemical compound of the metal and other elements, such as oxygen (as an oxide),
sulfur (as a sulfide), or carbon and oxygen together (as a carbonate). To extract the
metal, workers must make these compounds undergo a chemical reaction. Smelting,
therefore, consists of using suitable reducing substances that combine with
those oxidizing elements to free the metal.
Roasting[edit]
In the case of sulfides and carbonates, a process called "roasting" removes the
unwanted carbon or sulfur, leaving an oxide, which can be directly reduced. Roasting
is usually carried out in an oxidizing environment. A few practical examples:

 Malachite, a common ore of copper is primarily copper carbonate

hydroxide Cu2(CO3)(OH)2.[4] This mineral undergoes thermal
decomposition to 2CuO, CO2, and H2O[5] in several stages between 250 °C
and 350 °C. The carbon dioxide and water are expelled into the
atmosphere, leaving copper(II) oxide, which can be directly reduced to
copper as described in the following section titled Reduction.
 Galena, the most common mineral of lead, is primarily lead sulfide (PbS).
The sulfide is oxidized to a sulfite (PbSO 3), which thermally decomposes
into lead oxide and sulfur dioxide gas (PbO and SO 2). The sulfur dioxide is
expelled (like the carbon dioxide in the previous example), and the lead
oxide is reduced as below.
Reduction[edit]
Reduction is the final, high-temperature step in smelting, in which the oxide becomes
the elemental metal. A reducing environment (often provided by carbon monoxide,
made by incomplete combustion in an air-starved furnace) pulls the
final oxygen atoms from the raw metal. The required temperature varies both in
absolute terms and in terms of the melting point of the base metal. Examples:

 Iron oxide becomes metallic iron at roughly 1250 °C (2282 °F or

1523.15 K), almost 300 degrees below iron's melting point of 1538 °C
(2800.4 °F or 1811.15 K).[6]
 Mercuric oxide becomes vaporous mercury near 550 °C (1022 °F or
823.15 K), almost 600 degrees above mercury's melting point of -38 °C (-
36.4 °F or 235.15 K).[7]
Flux and slag can provide a secondary service after the reduction step is complete:
they provide a molten cover on the purified metal, preventing contact with oxygen
while still hot enough to readily oxidize. This prevents impurities from forming in the
metal.
Fluxes[edit]
Metal workers use fluxes in smelting for several purposes, chief among them
catalyzing the desired reactions and chemically binding to unwanted impurities or
reaction products. Calcium oxide, in the form of lime, was often used for this
purpose, since it could react with the carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide produced
during roasting and smelting to keep them out of the working environment.

History[edit]
Of the seven metals known in antiquity, only gold occurs regularly in its native form
in the natural environment. The others – copper, lead, silver, tin, iron, and mercury –
occur primarily as minerals, though copper is occasionally found in its native state in
commercially significant quantities. These minerals are
primarily carbonates, sulfides, or oxides of the metal, mixed with other components
such as silica and alumina. Roasting the carbonate and sulfide minerals in the air
converts them to oxides. The oxides, in turn, are smelted into the metal. Carbon
monoxide was (and is) the reducing agent of choice for smelting. It is easily
produced during the heating process, and as a gas comes into intimate contact with
the ore.
In the Old World, humans learned to smelt metals in prehistoric times, more than
8000 years ago. The discovery and use of the "useful" metals – copper and bronze
at first, then iron a few millennia later – had an enormous impact on human society.
The impact was so pervasive that scholars traditionally divide ancient history
into Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age.
In the Americas, pre-Inca civilizations of the central Andes in Peru had mastered the
smelting of copper and silver at least six centuries before the first Europeans arrived
in the 16th century, while never mastering the smelting of metals such as iron for use
with weapon craft.[8]
Tin and lead[edit]
In the Old World, the first metals smelted were tin and lead. The earliest
known cast lead beads were found in the Çatalhöyük site in Anatolia (Turkey), and
dated from about 6500 BC, but the metal may have been known earlier.[citation needed]
Since the discovery happened several millennia before the invention of writing, there
is no written record of how it was made. However, tin and lead can be smelted by
placing the ores in a wood fire, leaving the possibility that the discovery may have
occurred by accident.
Lead is a common metal, but its discovery had relatively little impact in the ancient
world. It is too soft to use for structural elements or weapons, though its high density
relative to other metals makes it ideal for sling projectiles. However, since it was
easy to cast and shape, workers in the classical world of Ancient
Greece and Ancient Rome used it extensively to pipe and store water. They also
used it as a mortar in stone buildings.[9][10]
Tin was much less common than lead and is only marginally harder, and had even
less impact by itself.
Copper and bronze[edit]

Casting bronze ding-tripods, from the Chinese Tiangong Kaiwu encyclopedia of Song Yingxing, published
in 1637.
After tin and lead, the next metal smelted appears to have been copper. How the
discovery came about is debated. Campfires are about 200 °C short of the
temperature needed, so some propose that the first smelting of copper may have
occurred in pottery kilns.[11] (The development of copper smelting in the Andes, which
is believed to have occurred independently of the Old World, may have occurred in
the same way.[8])
The earliest current evidence of copper smelting, dating from between 5500 BC and
5000 BC, has been found in Pločnik and Belovode, Serbia.[12][13] A mace head found in
Turkey and dated to 5000 BC, once thought to be the oldest evidence, now appears
to be hammered, native copper.[14]
Combining copper with tin and/or arsenic in the right proportions produces bronze,
an alloy that is significantly harder than copper. The first copper/arsenic
bronzes date from 4200 BC from Asia Minor. The Inca bronze alloys were also of
this type. Arsenic is often an impurity in copper ores, so the discovery could have
been made by accident. Eventually, arsenic-bearing minerals were intentionally
added during smelting.[citation needed]
Copper–tin bronzes, harder and more durable, were developed around 3500 BC,
also in Asia Minor.[15]
How smiths learned to produce copper/tin bronzes is unknown. The first such
bronzes may have been a lucky accident from tin-contaminated copper ores.
However, by 2000 BC, people were mining tin on purpose to produce bronze—which
is remarkable as tin is a semi-rare metal, and even a rich cassiterite ore only has 5%
tin. However early peoples learned about tin, they understood how to use it to make
bronze by 2000 BC.[citation needed]
The discovery of copper and bronze manufacture had a significant impact on the
history of the Old World. Metals were hard enough to make weapons that were
heavier, stronger, and more resistant to impact damage than wood, bone, or stone
equivalents. For several millennia, bronze was the material of choice for weapons
such as swords, daggers, battle axes, and spear and arrow points, as well as
protective gear such as shields, helmets, greaves (metal shin guards), and
other body armor. Bronze also supplanted stone, wood, and organic materials in
tools and household utensils—such as chisels, saws, adzes, nails, blade
shears, knives, sewing needles and pins, jugs, cooking pots and cauldrons, mirrors,
and horse harnesses.[citation needed] Tin and copper also contributed to the establishment of
trade networks that spanned large areas of Europe and Asia and had a major effect
on the distribution of wealth among individuals and nations. [citation needed]
Early iron smelting[edit]
Main article: Ferrous metallurgy
The earlist Iron smelting was in Lejja, Nigeria. They have carbon-dated slag blocks
to 2000 BCE. In a village square in Lejja, located about 15 kilometers south of the
university town of Nsukka in southeastern Nigeria, lies what appears to be the oldest
iron-smelting site in the world. Arranged in crescent shapes with mounds in the
middle across a wide sitting area at Otobo Ejuona, as the arena is known, are
hundreds of bits of smelting debris, or slags, recently carbon-dated to about 2000
BCE by a team of archaeologists and other experts from the University of Nigeria,
Nsukka and Oxford University in the United Kingdom.[16]
Evidence of iron smelting in Lejja Intensive smelting of iron took place at the site of
Lejja, in south east Nigeria during prehistoric periods. This statement is
substantiated by the extensive iron smelting debris left behind in Lejja. The debris
could point not only to an extensive iron smelting period in the history of the site, but
could even represent the remains of a once thriving industry. Iron smelting often
involved the community as a whole, and its effects were usually far reaching; from
changing the status and living standards of the smelters to the actual development of
some African cultures [17]
The earliest evidence for iron-making is a small number of iron fragments with the
appropriate amounts of carbon admixture found in the Proto-Hittite layers at Kaman-
Kalehöyük and dated to 2200–2000 BCE.[18] Souckova-Siegolová (2001) shows that
iron implements were made in Central Anatolia in very limited quantities around 1800
BCE and were in general use by elites, though not by commoners, during the New
Hittite Empire (∼1400–1200 BCE).[19]
Archaeologists have found indications of iron working in Ancient Egypt, somewhere
between the Third Intermediate Period and 23rd Dynasty (ca. 1100–750 BCE).
Significantly though, they have found no evidence of iron ore smelting in any (pre-
modern) period. In addition, very early instances of carbon steel were in production
around 2000 years ago (around the first-century CE.) in northwest Tanzania, based
on complex preheating principles. These discoveries are significant for the history of
metallurgy.[20]
Most early processes in Europe and Africa involved smelting iron ore in a bloomery,
where the temperature is kept low enough so that the iron does not melt. This
produces a spongy mass of iron called a bloom, which then must be consolidated
with a hammer to produce wrought iron. The earliest evidence to date for the
bloomery smelting of iron is found at Tell Hammeh, Jordan ([1]), and dates to
930 BCE (C14 dating).
Later iron smelting[edit]
Main article: Blast furnace
From the medieval period, an indirect process began to replace the direct reduction
in bloomeries. This used a blast furnace to make pig iron, which then had to undergo
a further process to make forgeable bar iron. Processes for the second stage include
fining in a finery forge. In the 13th century during the High Middle Ages the blast
furnace was introduced by China who had been using it since as early as 200 b.c
during the Qin dynasty. [2] Puddling was also Introduced in the Industrial Revolution.
Both processes are now obsolete, and wrought iron is now rarely made. Instead,
mild steel is produced from a Bessemer converter or by other means including
smelting reduction processes such as the Corex Process.

Base metals[edit]
Cowles Syndicate of Ohio in Stoke-upon-Trent England, late 1880s. British Aluminium used the process
of Paul Héroult about this time.[21]

The ores of base metals are often sulfides. In recent centuries, reverberatory

furnaces have been used to keep the charge being smelted separately from the fuel.
Traditionally, they were used for the first step of smelting: forming two liquids, one an
oxide slag containing most of the impurities, and the other a sulfide matte containing
the valuable metal sulfide and some impurities. Such "reverb" furnaces are today
about 40 meters long, 3 meters high, and 10 meters wide. Fuel is burned at one end
to melt the dry sulfide concentrates (usually after partial roasting) which are fed
through openings in the roof of the furnace. The slag floats over the heavier matte
and is removed and discarded or recycled. The sulfide matte is then sent to
the converter. The precise details of the process vary from one furnace to another
depending on the mineralogy of the ore body.
While reverberatory furnaces produced slags containing very little copper, they were
relatively energy inefficient and off-gassed a low concentration of sulfur dioxide that
was difficult to capture; a new generation of copper smelting technologies has
supplanted them.[22] More recent furnaces exploit bath smelting, top-jetting lance
smelting, flash smelting, and blast furnaces. Some examples of bath smelters
include the Noranda furnace, the Isasmelt furnace, the Teniente reactor, the
Vunyukov smelter, and the SKS technology. Top-jetting lance smelters include the
Mitsubishi smelting reactor. Flash smelters account for over 50% of the world's
copper smelters. There are many more varieties of smelting processes, including the
Kivset, Ausmelt, Tamano, EAF, and BF.

Environmental and occupational health impacts[edit]

Smelting has serious effects on the environment,
producing wastewater and slag and releasing such toxic metals as copper, silver,
iron, cobalt, and selenium into the atmosphere.[23] Smelters also release
gaseous sulfur dioxide, contributing to acid rain, which acidifies soil and water.[24]
The smelter in Flin Flon, Canada was one of the largest point sources of mercury in
North America in the 20th century.[25][26] Even after smelter releases were drastically
reduced, landscape re-emission continued to be a major regional source of mercury.
Lakes will likely receive mercury contamination from the smelter for decades, from
both re-emissions returning as rainwater and leaching of metals from the soil.[25]
Air pollution[edit]
Air pollutants generated by aluminium smelters include carbonyl sulfide, hydrogen
fluoride, polycyclic compounds, lead, nickel, manganese, polychlorinated biphenyls,
and mercury.[27] Copper smelter emissions include
arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, lead, manganese, and nickel.[28] Lead
smelters typically emit arsenic, antimony, cadmium and various lead compounds.[29][30]
[31]

This section needs expansion with:

Description of air pollution
emissions and control options. You
can help by adding to
it. (September 2021)

Wastewater[edit]
Wastewater pollutants discharged by iron and steel mills includes gasification
products such
as benzene, naphthalene, anthracene, cyanide, ammonia, phenols and cresols,
together with a range of more complex organic compounds known collectively
as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).[32] Treatment technologies include
recycling of wastewater; settling basins, clarifiers and filtration systems for solids
removal; oil skimmers and filtration; chemical precipitation and filtration for dissolved
metals; carbon adsorption and biological oxidation for organic pollutants; and
evaporation.[33]
Pollutants generated by other types of smelters varies with the base metal ore. For
example, aluminum smelters typically generate fluoride, benzo(a)pyrene, antimony
and nickel, as well as aluminum. Copper smelters typically discharge cadmium,
lead, zinc, arsenic and nickel, in addition to copper.[34] Lead smelters may
discharge antimony, asbestos, cadmium, copper and zinc, in addition to lead. [35]
Health impacts[edit]
Labourers working in the smelting industry have reported respiratory
illnesses inhibiting their ability to perform the physical tasks demanded by their jobs.
[36]

Regulations[edit]
In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency has published pollution
control regulations for smelters.

 Air pollution standards under the Clean Air Act[37]

 Water pollution standards (effluent guidelines) under the Clean Water Act.
[38][39]

The RMI Conformant Smelter Program

As conflict mineral use grows, numerous initiatives have been launched to
counteract the problem. They encourage responsible mineral sourcing practices in
regions under circumstances of conflict, human rights abuse, or labour exploitation.
The Responsible Mineral Initiative, RMI, has developed a set of ideals and
guidelines for smelter, including the Conformant Smelter Program. The program is a
third-party audit and certification program that assesses the performance of smelters
in the responsible sourcing of minerals. [40] This program adheres to the Organization
for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, guidelines. Published in the
OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from
Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas. The OECD is a body focused on policies for
bettering global practices.[41]
The focus of the program is evaluating smelters on:

 Sourcing practices: Demonstrating sourced minerals do not contribute to

active conflict, human rights issues, or environmental damage
 Due Diligence: Establishing a due diligence process to mitigate risks in the
supply chain
 Transparency: Information being transparent about their sourcing
 Environmental and social performance: Minimizing the environmental
impact and respecting workers' rights [42]
Smelters that meet the RMI standards gain recognition on the RMI Conformant
Smelter & Refiner Lists.
This is not the only program regulating the smelting industry, additional auditing
programs include:

 The London Bullion Market Association, LBMA, focuses on gold, silver,

platinum, and palladium. With successful smelters gaining recognition on
the Good Suppliers List.[43]
 Responsible Jewellery Council, RJC, promotes responsible practices in
the jewellery supply chain. Successful smelters gaining recognition on the
RJC members registry.[44]
Similarly, to the RMI Conformant Smelter Program these entities comply with OECD
guidelines and promote ethical and environmental supply chain management.
However, the named organizations have varying additional guidelines therefore the
only cross recognized audits with the RMI are:

 LBMA Responsible Gold Guidance

 RMI Responsible Minerals Assurance Process Gold Standard
 RJC Chain-of-Custody (CoC) Standard (provision 1 only)
 RJC Code of Practices (COP) Standard (provision 7 only) [45]

See also[edit]
 Cast iron
 Ellingham diagram, useful in predicting the conditions under which an ore
reduces to its metal
 Copper extraction techniques
 Clinker
 Cupellation
 Lead smelting
 Metallurgy
 Pyrometallurgy
 Wrought iron
 Zinc smelting
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33. ^ Development Document for Effluent Limitations Guidelines, New Source Performance
Standards and Pretreatment Standards for the Iron and Steel Manufacturing Point
Source Category; Vol. I (Report). EPA. May 1982. pp. 177–216. EPA 440/1-82/024a.
34. ^ EPA (1984). "Nonferrous Metals Manufacturing Point Source Category." Code of
Federal Regulations, 40 CFR 421.
35. ^ Development Document for Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the
Nonferrous Metals Manufacturing Point Source Category; Volume IV  (Report). EPA. May
1989. pp. 1711–1739. EPA 440/1-89/019.4.
36. ^ Sjöstrand, Torgny (12 January 1947). "Changes in the Respiratory Organs of Workmen
at an Ore Smelting Works1".  Acta Medica Scandinavica.  128  (S196): 687–
699.  doi:10.1111/j.0954-6820.1947.tb14704.x. ISSN 0954-6820.
37. ^ "Clean Air Act Standards and Guidelines for the Metals Production Industry". EPA. 1
June 2021.
38. ^ "Iron and Steel Manufacturing Effluent Guidelines". EPA. 13 July 2021.
39. ^ "Nonferrous Metals Manufacturing Effluent Guidelines". EPA. 13 July 2021.
40. ^ "Standards". Responsible Mineral Initiative. 14 May 2023.
41. ^ "About the OECD". OECD. 14 May 2023.
42. ^ "RMI conformant smelters". Enviropass. 22 May 2023.
43. ^ "About good delivery". LBMA. 22 May 2023.
44. ^ "About". RJC. 23 May 2023.
45. ^ "RMAP cross-recognition". Responsible Minerals Initiative.

Bibliography[edit]
 Pleiner, R. (2000) Iron in Archaeology. The European Bloomery Smelters, Praha,
Archeologický Ústav Av Cr.
 Veldhuijzen, H.A. (2005) Technical Ceramics in Early Iron Smelting. The Role of Ceramics in
the Early First Millennium Bc Iron Production at Tell Hammeh (Az-Zarqa), Jordan. In:
Prudêncio, I.Dias, I. and Waerenborgh, J.C. (Eds.) Understanding People through Their
Pottery; Proceedings of the 7th European Meeting on Ancient Ceramics (Emac '03). Lisboa,
Instituto Português de Arqueologia (IPA).
  Veldhuijzen, H.A. and Rehren, Th. (2006) Iron Smelting Slag Formation at Tell Hammeh
(Az-Zarqa), Jordan. In: Pérez-Arantegui, J. (Ed.) Proceedings of the 34th International
Symposium on Archaeometry, Zaragoza, 3–7 May 2004. Zaragoza, Institución «Fernando el
Católico» (C.S.I.C.) Excma. Diputación de Zaragoza.

External links[edit]

Look up smelting in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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 v

 t

 e
Extractive metallurgy

Metallurgical assay Non-ferrous extractive metallurgy

Mineral  Geological survey

processing  Natural resources
(by physical means)  Ore 
o Economic geology

o Mineral

o Base metal

Extraction o Precious metal

 Mining 
o Surface

o Underground in hard rock

o Underground in soft rock

 Recycling 
o Scrap

Comminution  Stamp mill

 Arrastra

 Crusher 
o AG mill

o SAG mill

o Pebble mill

 Ball mill 
o Rod mill
 o IsaMill

 Ore sorting

 Vanning

 Hydrocyclone

Sizing  Trommel

 Cyclonic separation

 Gyratory equipment

 Mechanical screening

 Froth flotation

 Jameson cell

 Panning

 Jig concentrators

Concentration  Gravity Concentration

 Magnetic separation (Magnetation)

 Rocker box

 Dry washing

 Buddle pit

 Iron smelting

 Lead smelting

 Zinc smelting
Smelting
 Flash smelting

 ISASMELT furnace
 Refractory linings

Pyrometallurgy  Cupellation

(by heat)  Parkes process

Refining  Bottom-blown oxygen converter

 Poling

 IsaKidd process

 Calcination

Other  Roasting

 Liquation

Hydrometallurgy Leaching  Lixiviant

(by aqueous  Heap leaching
solution)  Dump leaching
  Tank leaching

 In situ leaching

 Gold chlorination

 Gold cyanidation

 Bayer process

 Patio process
Amalgamation
 Pan amalgamation

 Electrowinning

Electrometallurgy  Hall–Héroult process

Electrolysis
(by electricity)  Castner process

 Downs cell

 Tailings

 Gangue

 Slag

Co-products  Clinker

 Chat

 Red mud

 Stamp sand

 Israel
Authority control:
 United States
National 
 Japan
Categories: 
 Smelting
 Firing techniques
 Metallurgical processes
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