GB652814A - Process for the production of iron and iron alloys - Google Patents

Abstract

In a process for the production of iron or iron alloys from iron-containing silicates in an electric furnace, a reducing charge of carbon and lime is fed on top of the iron silicate, the temperature being maintained high enough to cause reaction between the carbon and the lime to take place whereby three layers are formed, the lowest being molten iron, the middle being molten silicate and the uppermost being products of reaction between the silicate and the carbon-lime reaction. The process is stated to be particularly effective in the production of iron alloys from the liquid silicates obtained as slag in the reduction of copper ores. The copper in the siliceous slag may be reduced by treating it in the molten state with iron pyrites when copper and impurities such as nickel, cobalt and precious metals are removed as sulphides. It is stated that steel of less than 0.1 per cent of carbon with or without 0.001 to 2.5 per cent of copper may be obtained. The Specification as open to inspection under Sect. 91 includes also steel containing up to 25 per cent of copper. This subject-matter does not appear in the Specification as accepted.