Mineral: A naturally occurring substance which has uniform composition is called mineral.

Ores: Every mineral many not contain a resource in sufficient quantity. Some minerals can be inaccessible
because of geographical or technological factors. Resources can be profitably extracted from minerals from
some selected sources only. Minerals from which a metal can be profitably extracted are called ores.

Occurrence of Ores
Source of metal: Metals occur in earth's crust and in sea water, in the form of ores. Earth's crust is the
major source of metal. Sea water contains many salts, such as sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, etc.

Extraction of metal from an ore depends on the place it has in the reactivity series. Following points explain
this.

1. Metals found at the bottom of reactivity series are least reactive and they are often found in nature
in free-state, such as gold, silver, copper, etc. Copper and silver are also found in the form of
sulphide and oxide ores.

2. Metals found in the middle of reactivity series, such as Zn, Fe, Pb, etc. are usually found in the form
of oxides, sulphides or carbonates.

3. Metals found at the top of the reactivity series are never found in free-state as they are very
reactive, e.g. K, Na, Ca, Mg and Al, etc.

4. Many metals are found in the form of oxides because oxygen is abundant in nature and is very
reactive.

Extraction of Metals
Metals can be categorized into three parts on the basis of their reactivity: most reactive, medium reactive
and least reactive. Following flow chart shows various methods applied to extract metals at different levels
of reactivity.
Different methods of extraction are shown in this flow chart. You can see, that metals of high reactivity,
electrolysis of molten ore is done to obtain pure metal. For metals of medium reactivity, cacination and
roasting are applied. For metals of least reactivity, roasting is applied. Finally, purification of metal is done.

Concentration of ores: Removal of impurities, such as soil, sand, stone, silicates, etc. from mined ore is
known as Concentration of Ores.

Ores which are mined often contain many impurities. These impurities are called gangue. First of all,
concentration is done to remove impurities from ores. Concentration of ores is also known as enrichment of
ores. Process of concentration depends upon physical and chemical properties of ores. Gravity separation,
electromagnetic separation, froth flotation process, etc. are some examples of the processes which are
applied for concentration of ores.
Concentration:

The process of removal of the gangue from Ore is known as Concentration or Dressing or Benefaction.
There are numerous methods of concentration and the methods are chosen based on the properties of the
ore.

Hydraulic Washing:
The gravity separation method, also known as hydraulic washing,
is used for metals that are heavier than the gangue particles. In
this method, water is used to enrich the ore. The ore is passed
through a stream that goes upward, pushing up all the lighter
particles mainly comprising impurities, while the metals that are
heavier than the impurities settle down as they cannot be pushed.
Before passing it through the stream, the ore is first crushed into a
fine powder form, and the lighter particles, which are the impure
particles, get washed away and separated from the metals. The
gravity separation method is mostly used for concentrating tin and
lead oxide from their ores.

Magnetic separation :
As the name suggests, magnetised material, such as a
magnet-equipped roller, is used for separating the unwanted
particles to enrich the ore. The magnetic characteristics of the
ore or the gangue particles are used for separation. The ore is
powdered and is laid on a conveyor belt that passes through a
magnetic roller. Metals that are magnetic stick to the magnetic
roller, and the unwanted particles slide off. This magnetic
separation method is suitable for metals that are attracted to a
magnetised material and are separated from the non-magnetic
particles, thereby enhancing the ore concentration. For this
method, a magnetic separator is best suited to process iron
ores like magnetite, chromite, and manganese, which are magnetic ores.

Conversion of metals ores into oxides:

It is easy to obtain metals from their oxides. So, ores found in the form of sulphide and carbonates are first
converted to their oxides by the process of roasting and calcination. Oxides of metals so obtained are
converted into metals by the process of reduction.

Roasting: Heating of sulphide ores in the presence of excess air to convert them into oxides is known as
ROASTING. This process is applied to treat sulphide ores. Sulphide of metal changes to oxide of metal in
this process.
2ZnS + 3O2 ⇨ 2ZnO + 2SO2

Calcination: Heating of carbonate ores in limited supply of air to convert them into oxides is known as
CALCINATION.

CaCO3(s) → CaO(s) + CO2(g)

Extraction of Metals of least reactivity:
Mercury and copper, which belong to the least reactivity series, are often found in the form of their sulphide
ores. Cinnabar (HgS) is the ore of mercury. Copper glance (Cu2S) is the ore of copper.

Extraction of Mercury: Cinnabar (HgS) is first heated in plenty of air, so that it can undergo roasting. This
turns HgS [mercury sulphide or cinnabar] into HgO (mercury oxide), by liberation of sulphur dioxide.
2HgS + 3O2 ⇨ 2HgO + 2SO2

Mercury oxide so obtained is again heated strongly in limited supply of air, so that it can undergo
calcination. This reduces mercury oxide to mercury metal.
2HgO ⇨ 2Hg + O2

Extraction of Copper: Copper glance (Cu2S) is roasted in the presence of air. This results in oxidation of
copper sulphide to give copper oxide. Roasting turns copper glance (ore of copper) into copper (I) oxide.
2Cu2S + 3O2 ⇨ 2Cu2O + 2SO2

After that, copper oxide is then heated in the absence of air, so that it can undergo calcination. This reduces
copper (I) oxide into copper metal.
2Cu2O + Cu2S ⇨ 6Cu + SO2

Extraction of Metals of middle reactivity:

Iron, zinc, lead, etc. are the metals of middle reactivity. These metals are found in the form of carbonate or
sulphide ores. Sulphide ores of metals are first converted into respective oxides through the process of
roasting. After that, oxides are subjected to calcination so that they can be reduced to respective metals.
Carbonate orese are subjectred to calcination to get oxide of metals.

Extraction of zinc: Zinc blende (ZnS: zinc sulphide) and smithsonite or zinc spar or calamine (ZnCO3: zinc
carbonate) are ores of zinc. Zinc blende is roasted, so that it can undergo oxidation to give zinc oxide. Zinc
spar is also subjected to calcination to be converted into zinc oxide.
2ZnS + 3O2 ⇨ 2ZnO + 2SO2
ZnCO3 ⇨ ZnO + CO2

Zinc oxide so obtained is reduced to zinc metal by heating with carbon (a reducing agent).
ZnO + C ⇨ Zn + CO

Extraction of Iron: Hematite ore (Fe2O3) is heated with carbon to be reduced to iron metal.
Fe2O3 + 3C ⇨ 4Fe + 3CO2

Extraction of lead from lead oxide: Lead oxide is heated with carbon to be reduced to lead metal.
2PbO + C ⇨ 2Pb + CO2

Reduction of metal oxide by heating with aluminium: Metal oxides are heated with aluminium (a
reducing agent) to be reduced to metal. You have read that aluminium oxide is an amphoteric oxide, which
means it shows dual nature, i.e. both acidic and basic nature. Following is an example:

Manganese dioxide and copper oxide are reduced to respective metals when heated with aluminium.
3MnO2 + 4Al ⇨ 3Mn + 2Al2O3
3CuO + 2Al ⇨ 3Cu + Al2O3 + heat
Thermite Reaction: Ferric oxide (when heated with aluminium) is reduced to iron metal. In this reaction, lot
of heat is produced. This reaction is also known as Thermite Reaction. Thermite reaction is used in welding
of electric conductors, iron joints, etc. such as joints in railway tracks. This is also known as Thermite
Welding (TW).

Extraction of Metals of high reactivity

Metals of high reactivity, such as sodium, calcium, magnesium, aluminium, etc. are extracted from their
ores by electrolytic reduction. These metals cannot be reduced using carbon because carbon is less
reactive than them.

Electrolytic Reduction: Electric current is passed through the molten state of metal ores. Metal (being
positively charged) is deposited over cathode.

Example: When electric current is passed through molten state or solution of sodium chloride, sodium metal
is deposited over cathode.

Na+ + e− ⇨ Na
2Cl− − e− ⇨ Cl2
2NaCl ⇨ 2Na + Cl2
T
Metals obtained from the process of electrolytic reduction are pure in form.

Refining of Metals
Metals extracted from various methods contain some impurities, and hence are required to be refined. Most
of the metals are refined using electrolytic refining.

Electrolytic Refining: In the process of electrolytic refining a lump of impure metal and a thin strip of pure
metal are dipped in the salt solution of metal to be refined. When electric current is passed through the
solution, pure metal is deposited over thin strip of pure metal, from lump of impure metal. In this, impure
metal is used as anode and pure metal is used as cathode.

Electrolytic refining of copper:

A lump of impure copper metal and a thin strip of pure copper are dipped in
the solution of copper sulphate. Impure lump of metal is connected with the
positive pole and thin strip of pure metal is connected with the negative
pole. When electric current is passed through the solution, pure metal from
anode moves towards cathode and is deposited over it. Impurities; present
in metal are settled near the bottom of anode in the solution. Settled
impurities in the solution are called anode mud.

Cu − 2e− ⇨ Cu+ +

Cu+ + + 2e− ⇨ Cu