Q.Explain the following terms with suitable examples.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Step 1 -- Gangue. Ores as mined are always associated with unwanted nonmetallic impurities, rocky material and siliceous matter; this is collectively called gangue (or matrix). It is present in the ore BEFORE any chemical processing, and its removal is exactly what the concentration step (Section 1.2) is for. Example: the silica (SiO2) naturally present alongside haematite/magnetite in iron ore is gangue.
Step 2 -- Slag. During the LATER smelting/extraction step (Section 1.3.2), whatever gangue survives concentration is dealt with chemically: a flux is added that reacts with the gangue to form an easily fusible compound called slag. Example: quicklime (CaO), a basic flux, reacts with the acidic silica gangue in iron ore: CaO(s) + SiO2(s) → CaSiO3(s) (calcium silicate slag); or, in copper extraction, silica (an acidic flux) reacts with the basic ferrous oxide by-product: FeO(s) + SiO2(s) → FeSiO3(s) (ferrous silicate slag). …
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