Extractive Metallurgy 3 : Processing Operations and Routes

Extractive metallurgy is the art and science of extracting metals from their ores and refining them. The production of metals and alloys from these source materials is still one of the most important and fundamental industries in both developed and developing economies around the world. The outputs and products are essential resources for the metallic, mechanical, electromagnetic, electrical and electronics industries (silicon is treated as a metal for these purposes).

This series is devoted to the extraction of metals from ores, concentrates (enriched ores), scraps, and other sources and their refining to the state of either liquid metal before casting or to solid metals. The extraction and refining operations that are required may be carried out by various metallurgical reaction processes.

Extractive Metallurgy 1 deals with the fundamentals of thermodynamics and kinetics of the reaction processes. Extractive Metallurgy 2 focuses on pyrometallurgical, hydrometallurgical, halide and electro-metallurgical (conversion) processes. Extractive Metallurgy 3 deals with the industrial processing operations, technologies, and process routes, in other words the sequence of steps or operations used to convert the ore to metal. Processes and operations are studied using the methodology of "chemical reaction engineering".

As the fundamentals of the art and science of Extractive Metallurgy are infrequently taught as dedicated university or engineering schools courses, this series is intended both for students in the fields of Metallurgy and Mechanical Engineering who want to acquire this knowledge, and also for engineers put in charge of the operation of an industrial production unit or the development of a new process, who will need the basic knowledge of the corresponding technology.

Alain Vignes was Professor of Metallurgical Reaction Engineering at the School of Mines of Nancy in France, then Professor and Director of the Materials Research Center of the School of Mines of Paris. He was then Chief Metallurgist for the French Nuclear Power Company (today AREVA NP).