Well, I will get even more nitpicky. I feel entitled to since I am a metallurgical engineer and accurate terminology is critical to safety, technical viability and economic success.
"Smelting" isn't extracting a metal from an ore. It is using pyrometallurgy (heat, fire) to extract a metal from an ore (or concentrate).
When you run copper ore through a reverb furnace, tap matte into a rotary converter and oxidize to copper metal, that is smelting.
When you run copper ore through a pressure leach autoclave, do solvent extraction on the resulting solution to obtain a purified copper solution and then electrowin copper, that is NOT smelting. That is called "recovery" or "refining."
I have this problem all the time at Trail Operations. People will call the zinc refinery a "zinc smelter." No, we have a lead "smelter", and we have a zinc "refinery." There are plants that do zinc smelting, but not in Trail (Trail uses the roast-leach-electrowin, or RLE, process for zinc).
Again, technical accuracy is important.
If you are fixing a car, there is a big difference between "radiator" and "heater core." They both ultimately function like radiators, but they are definitely not the same thing. See what happens when you take your car to the mechanic and tell him to replace the radiator (oh, but you "meant" heater core).
If you are building a house, there is a big difference between "drywall" and "cement board" even if the same guys are installing both. If you go out and ask for someone to "drywall" your bathroom shower, you might get some very bad results.
Peace.
Geraldo
PS. and for "smelting lead" - if you are doing that in your back yard, you are potentially killing yourself and all your neighbors from sulfur dioxide poisoning. If you are "melting" wheel weights, at most you make a little localized lead fume, assuming you are overheating it like crazy.
"Smelting" isn't extracting a metal from an ore. It is using pyrometallurgy (heat, fire) to extract a metal from an ore (or concentrate).
When you run copper ore through a reverb furnace, tap matte into a rotary converter and oxidize to copper metal, that is smelting.
When you run copper ore through a pressure leach autoclave, do solvent extraction on the resulting solution to obtain a purified copper solution and then electrowin copper, that is NOT smelting. That is called "recovery" or "refining."
I have this problem all the time at Trail Operations. People will call the zinc refinery a "zinc smelter." No, we have a lead "smelter", and we have a zinc "refinery." There are plants that do zinc smelting, but not in Trail (Trail uses the roast-leach-electrowin, or RLE, process for zinc).
Again, technical accuracy is important.
If you are fixing a car, there is a big difference between "radiator" and "heater core." They both ultimately function like radiators, but they are definitely not the same thing. See what happens when you take your car to the mechanic and tell him to replace the radiator (oh, but you "meant" heater core).
If you are building a house, there is a big difference between "drywall" and "cement board" even if the same guys are installing both. If you go out and ask for someone to "drywall" your bathroom shower, you might get some very bad results.
Peace.
Geraldo
PS. and for "smelting lead" - if you are doing that in your back yard, you are potentially killing yourself and all your neighbors from sulfur dioxide poisoning. If you are "melting" wheel weights, at most you make a little localized lead fume, assuming you are overheating it like crazy.
