The Reduction of Ores. Metallurgy

Metals are obtained from ores. An ore is a mineral or other natural material that may be profitably treated for the extraction of one or more metals. 

The process of extracting a metal from the ore is called winning the metal. Refining is the purification of the metal that has been extracted from the ore. Metallurgy is the science and art of winning and refining metals, and preparing them for use. 

The chemical processes involved in the winning of metals are mainly the reduction of a compound of the metal, usually oxide or sulfide. The principal reducing agent that is used is carbon, often in the form of coke. An example is the reduction of iron oxide with coke in a blast furnace (Chapter 19). Occasionally reducing agents other than carbon are used thus antimony is won from stibnite, Sb2Sa, by heating it with iron  

From the foregoing argument we would conclude that any element more electropositive than antimony could be used to prepare antimony from stibnite. Reference to Table 11-1 shows that many metals are in this class. Iron is used in practice rather than some other metal because it is the cheapest metal. 

Copper occurs in nature as native copper that is, in the free state. Other ores of copper include cuprite, CugO chalcocite, CugS clialcopyrite, CuFeSg malachite, Cu2C03(0H)2 and azurite, Cu3(C03)2(OH)2. Malachite, a beautiful green mineral, is sometimes polished and used in jewelry. 

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