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Extractive metallurgy is a branch of metallurgical engineering wherein process and methods of extraction of metals from their natural mineral deposits are studied. The field is a materials science, covering all aspects of the types of ore, washing, concentration, separation, chemical processes and extraction of pure metal and their alloying to suit various applications, sometimes for direct ...
Similar to the Anglo-Saxon method for cupellation, the Chinese employed the use of a base metal to extract the target metal from its impurities. First, the base metal, iron, is hammered into thin sheets. The sheets are then placed into a trough filled with “vitriol water” i.e., copper mining water which is then left to steep for several day.
The most common example of roasting is the oxidation of metal sulfide ores. The metal sulfide is heated in the presence of air to a temperature that allows the oxygen in the air to react with the sulfide to form sulfur dioxide gas and solid metal oxide. The solid product from roasting is often called "calcine".
Cementation is the conversion of the metal ion to the metal by a redox reaction. A typical application involves addition of scrap iron to a solution of copper ions. Iron dissolves and copper metal is deposited. Solvent Extraction; Ion exchange; Gas reduction. Treating a solution of nickel and ammonia with hydrogen affords nickel metal as its ...
Extraction of these metals from their corresponding hosting minerals would typically require pyrometallurgy (e.g., roasting), hydrometallurgy (cyanidation), or both as processing routes. Early studies have demonstrated that gold dissolution rate in Ethaline compares very favourably to the cyanidation method, which is further enhanced by the ...
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.
Cathodes are thin rolled sheets of highly pure copper or, more commonly these days, reusable stainless steel starting sheets (as in the IsaKidd process). [51] A potential of only 0.2–0.4 volts is required for the process to commence. In industrial plants current densities up to 420 A/m 2 are possible. [52]
Iron smelting—the extraction of usable metal from oxidized iron ores—is more difficult than tin and copper smelting. While these metals and their alloys can be cold-worked or melted in relatively simple furnaces (such as the kilns used for pottery ) and cast into molds, smelted iron requires hot-working and can be melted only in specially ...