Smelting involves more than just melting the metal out of its ore. Most ores are the chemical compound of the metal … See more

Of the seven metals known in antiquity, only gold regularly occurs in nature as a native metal. The others – copper, lead, silver, tin, iron, and mercury – occur primarily as minerals, although native copper is occasionall… See more

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. Smelters also release gaseous … See more

• Cast iron
• Ellingham diagram, useful in predicting the conditions under which an ore reduces to its metal
• Copper extraction techniques… See more

• 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 … See more