150 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 
PYROMETALLURGY AND ITS FUTURE 
POSSIBILITIES.* 
BY JOHN C. MORGAN.1 
Pyrometallurgy is that part of metallurgical pro- 
cesses or operations carried on at elevated tempera- 
tures. It may consist of steps in the branch of metal- 
lurgy known as ferrous metallurgy and having to do with 
the manufacture of iron and steel, or of non-ferrous 
metallurgy involving the treatment of ores of copper, 
lead, zinc, precious metals, rare metals and so on for the 
production of these metals in marketable form. 
Inasmuch as we of the West are chiefly concerned 
with non-ferrous metallurgy, I will limit my remarks to 
that branch of the subject. I am also omitting any 
remarks concerning the pyrometallurgy of non-ferrous 
alloys. 
Pyrometallurgy consists chiefly of (?) drying to 
remove hygroscopic water, calcining; to remove com- 
bined water and other volatile components, roasting to 
effect chemical change without fusion, smelting when 
chemical change is brought about with fusion, liquating, 
crystallizing, distilling, subliming to effect either separa- 
tions or purifications. 
Modern smelting practice and the operations inci- 
dent thereto is a highly developed art. Its problems have 
been many in the past. One in particular is the successful 
treatment of fine material in the blast furnace, a problem 
which has been brought about by the ever decreasing 
amount of ore as mined reaching the smelter together 
with the constantly increasing amount of finer material 
resulting from concentration processes. Sintering 
machines and briquetting are so far meeting this situa- 
tion. 
*Published by permission of the director, U. S. Bureau of Mines. 
1Assistant Chemist, U. S. Bureau of Mines. 
*Hoffman, General Metallurgy, 1913, p-379. 
