Dive Deep: History of Metallurgy and Industry Unveiled!

Did you know that there are many steps from metal to the object you use? No wonder, metallurgy is not a light matter.
Of course, it could be summarised as follows: extraction and recycling, processing and transformation, hot working, cold working.
In this article and on the online book page, you will see that the current techniques are very diverse. They depend on the object you want to make.
And the metals and alloys used.
Iron for example. It can be transformed into cast iron and steel, which are its two basic alloys.
Steel itself can also be made into various alloys.
Add to this the possibilities offered by other metals and their alloys, think of the amount of metallic objects that exist on the planet.
So yes, metallurgy is a highly developed technology.
To find your way around, you can consult the table opposite, which refers to the subjects covered.

Extraction and recycling.

Once they are extracted from the deposits, rocks and metal ores are processed. In order to extract the metals. The treatments used are more or less complex.
From bauxite to aluminum.
Once extracted from its deposit, bauxite is crushed. It then undergoes a first series of chemical treatments at high temperature, before being filtered and heated again.
The product obtained is aluminum ore or alumina.
As you can see, the transformation of bauxite into alumina takes a long time. It requires a lot of energy.

From ore to iron.

The iron ore arrives in its raw state. Mixed with gangue, i.e. earth, it needs to be purified.
This is why it is crushed, ground and agglomerated. At the end of the process, the iron ore is stripped of as much of its gangue as possible and is therefore more concentrated.

Recycling

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This is the other source of metals and it is important. Yes, by recycling manufacturing residues, car bodies, cans or drinks cans, a lot of energy is saved.
Scrap metal (waste iron, cast iron and steel) and other recycled metals are then processed like the metal that was mined.