Abstract
The iron-reduction process for extracting lead from its ores, as practiced in different parts of the world, is reviewed and discussed in this paper based on literary and documentary evidence. It has been shown that the early 14th century Indian reference of Thakkura Pherū appears to be the first evidence on this subject. This process was most vigorously adopted for the production of lead in Germany during the 18th and 19th centuries. Developments in the original iron-reduction process were also carried out in Germany, wherein the reductant iron was produced in-situ by the carbothermic reduction of iron-bearing material in the lead smelter itself. This process eventually replaced the original iron-reduction process in Germany in the later part of the 19th century.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Thakkura Pherū, Dravyapañksā and Dhātūtpatti, ed. B.L. Nahta, (Vaishalj, India: P.J.A.S.S.), 1976).
Abu L-Fazl Allami, Ā-īn-i Akbari, (tr.) H.S. Jarrett, First published 1927–1949, II ed. corrected and further annotated by Jadu Nath Sarkar, (Delhi: Low Price Publications, Reprint, 1989), p. 137.
B.N. Seal, The Positive Sciences of the Ancient Hindus, Reprint (Delhi, India: Motilal Banarasidass, 1985), p. 81.
John Percy, The Metallurgy of Lead Including Desilverization and Cupellation (London: John Murray, 1870), p. 357.
John Percy, in Ref. 4, p. 358.
John Percy, in Ref. 4, pp. 357–368.
John Percy, in Ref. 4, pp 368–379.
John Percy, in Ref. 4, pp 398–405.
Grimm, “Die Erzniederlage, bei Przibram in Böhmen,” Berg-und hüttenmännisches Jahrbuch, 5 (1856), pp. 245–248; cited in John Percy, in Ref. 4. The Metallurgy of Lead Including Desilverization and Cupellation (London: John Murray, 1870), p. 403.
John Percy, in Ref. 4, pp. 338–345.
John Percy, in Ref. 4, pp 384.
John Percy, in Ref. 4, pp 537.
John Percy, in Ref. 4, pp 257–261.
John Percy, in Ref. 4, pp 59.
John Percy, in Ref. 4, pp 368.
Henry F. Collins, The Metallurgy of Lead and Silver (London, Charles Griffin and Co., 1899), p. 223.
John Percy, in Ref. 4, pp 384–387.
Arthur Horseman Hirons, Principles of Metallurgy (London, McMillan and Co., 1895), p. 283.
William Isaac Cookson, An Improvement in the Reduction of Lead Ores, British patent 553 (1854).
Bergwerk und Probierbüchlein, (tr.) Anneliese Grünhaldt Sisco and Cyril Stanley Smith (New York: The American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, 1949), p. 8.
Bergwerk und Probierbüchlein, (tr.) Anneliese Grünhaldt Sisco and Cyril Stanley Smith (New York: The American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, 1949), p. 108.
Georgius Agricola, De Re Metallica, (tr.) Herbert Clark Hoover and Lou Henry Hoover, (New York: Dover Publications, 1950), p. 246.
Lazarus Ercker: Treatise on Ores and Assaying, (tr.) Anneliese Grünhaldt Sisco and Cyril Stanley Smith, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1951), p. 260.
John Percy, in Ref. 4, pp 392.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dube, R.K. The extraction of lead from its ores by the iron-reduction process: A historical perspective. JOM 58, 18–23 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-006-0195-5
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-006-0195-5