Lead Ore

Lead Ore is found from ores dug from ground mines. Some form of Lead is found in many minerals but the Galena is a one of the most important product for getting Lead. The Galena has only Lead and Sulphar which is called pure Galena. But most of Galena is found with minor metals including copper, zinc, calcium, arsenic and other metals. Mostly Lead Ore is obtained as a byproduct of metal mining (Zinc, silver).

Many steps are used for obtaining the Lead from Lead Ore (Lead Ore Refining Process), these process/steps are mining the Ore, Concentrating the ore, Flotation, Filtering, Roasting the ore, Blasting, Refining, and Casting :

Mining : The first step for obtaining the lead-bearing ore is to mine it underground. For it heavy machinery is used to drill the rock from deep tunnels or it can be blast with dynamite and then Lead Ore is obtained in pieces.

Concentrating the Ore : After removing the ore from the mine, it is treated at a concentrating mill. In Concentrating process all waste rock is removed from the Lead.

Flotation : The flotation process collects the sulfur-bearing portions of the ore, which contains the valuable metal. In Flotation process many other chemicals are also added to help concentrate the minerals. Lead is separated from the rock and the mineral e.g. copper. Zinc at the end of the flotation process.

Filtering : In filtering process concentrate is flows to a filter and up to 90 of water is removed. At this point the concentrate contains about 50 % of lead, with large amounts of other impurities, mostly sulfur and zinc.