The oldest, and still the most common smelting process for oxide ores involves heating them in the presence of carbon. Originally, charcoal was used, but industrial-scale smelting uses coke, a crude f...The oldest, and still the most common smelting process for oxide ores involves heating them in the presence of carbon. Originally, charcoal was used, but industrial-scale smelting uses coke, a crude form of carbon prepared by pyrolysis (heating) of coal. It is possible to isolate many of the representative metals by chemical reduction using other elements as reducing agents. In general, chemical reduction is much less expensive than electrolysis, and for this reason, chemical reduction is the m
