A high-temperature chemical reduction process that extracts elemental metal from its ore. Unlike simple melting, it involves a chemical change where a reducing agent like carbon strips oxygen from the ore, producing molten metal and a waste slag. It is the primary step in converting raw mined minerals into usable industrial metals.
Heard on the job
The new plant will handle the smelting of copper sulfides directly from the local mine.
Related terms
Blast furnace
A massive vertical smelting reactor used to reduce iron ore into liquid pig iron.
Reduction
The percentage decrease in a material's cross-sectional area or thickness after rolling or drawing.
Scoria
The porous, crusty slag or dross left over after smelting metal from its ore.
Pig iron
The crude, high-carbon iron tapped directly from a blast furnace.