Why reduction process is always involved in the extraction of metals quora?
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Hey Mate here's the answer....
Reduction. The ore is already oxidized; to produce metal, you have to reduce it.
But there are some ores that contain the metal not as an oxide, but as a carbonate or sulfide. E.g., galena is lead sulfide. An ore like this is first “roasted” in the presence of oxygen to convert it to lead sulfate and decompose that into lead oxide plus sulfur dioxide gas. Then the lead oxide is reduced by smelting with carbon to produce lead plus carbon dioxide So in this case I guess you could say that both oxidation and reduction are used.
Reduction. The ore is already oxidized; to produce metal, you have to reduce it.
But there are some ores that contain the metal not as an oxide, but as a carbonate or sulfide. E.g., galena is lead sulfide. An ore like this is first “roasted” in the presence of oxygen to convert it to lead sulfate and decompose that into lead oxide plus sulfur dioxide gas. Then the lead oxide is reduced by smelting with carbon to produce lead plus carbon dioxide So in this case I guess you could say that both oxidation and reduction are used.
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