How the Blast Furnace Works

There are a few methods to extract metals from its ores. The main ones are electrolysis (the decomposition of a compound using electricity) and heating with carbon or carbon monoxide (or called the “Blast Furnace”). Some other metals like Silver and Gold occur naturally in the Earth’s crust as “native metals”. The method to extract the metal depends on its place in the Reactivity Series (how reactive the metal is). The more reactive the metal, the more difficult it is to extract. Thus electrolysis would be used more the more reactive and the “Blast Furnace” for the less:

Metal Method of Extraction
Potassium Electrolysis
Sodium Electrolysis
Calcium Electrolysis
Magnesium Electrolysis
Aluminium Electrolysis
Zinc Heat with C or CO
Iron Heat with C or CO
Lead Heat with C or CO
Copper Roasting in air
Silver Occur naturally
Gold Occur naturally

Out of all the methods, native metals are the easiest to extract and require the least energy as they are found on their own as an element in the crust. However, they are not the easiest to find, not everywhere has gold. As a supplier, it is unlikely that I would be able to travel the whole world to find gold, especially in a large amount (bulk) as suppliers would supposed to. On the other hand, gold would definitely have a good price (as a luxury metal) and I could be making a lot of money if I am fortunate enough to find a suitable gold mine that would provide a sufficient amount.

Another metal on the list is Iron. To extract iron, I would need a Blast Furnace. The blast furnace is a huge, steel stack lined with refractory brick. The purpose of the blast furnace is to chemically reduce and physically convert the iron oxide in to liquid iron called “hot metal”

Three substances are needed for this extraction and the combined mixture of them is called the “charge”:
Haematite (iron ore): contains sand with iron oxide (Fe2O3)
Limestone: calcium carbonate
Coke: mainly carbon
They are put