Pyrometallurgy is refers to the application of metallurgical furnace at high temperature the valuable metals and concentrates in the gangue separation of various kinds of homework. Pyrometallurgy is to extract pure metal, the oldest and the most commonly used method. Smelting method adopted by the steps are roasting, smelting and converting process, fire refining, electrolytic refining and chemical refining.

Use of heat extracted from ore metals or their compounds of metallurgical process. No solution to this process, so it is also known as dry process of metallurgy. Pyrometallurgy processes generally divided into the ore preparation, smelting, refining 3 steps. (1) ore preparation. Beneficiation of fine particle concentration is not easy to directly add blast furnace (blast furnace), must first join the metallurgical flux can (with gangue minerals contained in the oxide, harmful impurities) oxide material, heated to burn block below the melting point of burden; Or add the adhesive pressure molding; Or roll into a ball again to burn into pellets; Or the water kneading; Then packed into blast furnace smelting. Sulfide concentrate roasting in air main purpose is: to remove volatile sulfur impurities, and make it into a metal oxide, for reduction smelting; Makes sulfide sulfate, then use wet leaching; Local sulphur removal, make its in the matte smelting into molten matte of several kinds of sulfide. (2) smelting. The process formed by gangue, solvent and fuel ash fusion of slag and molten matte (non-ferrous heavy metal sulfides and iron sulfide melt) or minor impurities of metal. Matte smelting smelting reduction, oxidation and converting, and formed 3 kinds of smelting method: reduction smelting, is within the blast furnace under the reducing atmosphere. Add charge, in addition to the rich ore, sinter cake or pellets, also joined the flux (limestone, quartz, etc.), in order to make slag, join coke as a compound to produce heat and as a reducing agent. Can reduction of iron ore to pig iron, reduction of oxide copper blister copper, reduction of lead sulfide concentrate sintering block of crude lead. Oxidation blowing: under oxidizing atmosphere, if use converter for pig iron, oxygen blowing, removal of hot metal by oxidation of silicon, manganese, carbon and phosphorus, refined into a qualified molten steel, cast steel ingot. Made with matte smelting: sulfide copper or nickel sulfide ore is mainly used for processing, generally in reverberatory furnace, mineral hot furnace and blast furnace. Join the acidity of quartz, flux and oxidation of ferrous oxide and gangue slag, slag under form a layer of molten matte. In making matte smelting, part of the iron and sulfur oxidation, more importantly, through smelting slag impurity, raise the content of the main metal in molten matte, have the effect of chemical enrichment. (3) refining. Further processing minor impurities which are obtained by smelting, and metal, in order to improve its purity. Such as steel is refined to pig iron, in the process of steelmaking to gas, deoxidization, and removing non-metallic inclusion, or further desulfurization, etc.; For while the crude copper refining furnace in oxidation refining, then cast anode electrolytic refining; To refine crude lead with removal of contained arsenic, antimony, tin, iron, etc., and can be used special methods such as pike judicial for recovery of gold and silver contained in crude lead. Of high purity metal smelting method to further refine usable area.