Chemistry

How to Extraction of Zinc from Zinc Blende

The extraction of Zinc from Zinc blende involves the following steps.

Concentration

The ore is crushed and then concentrated by froth-floatation process.

Roasting

The concentrated ore is then roasted in the presence of excess of air at about 1200 K.

2 ZnS + 3O2 → 2ZnO + 2SO2

Reduction

Zinc oxide is mixed with powdered coke and heated to 1673 K in a fire clay retort, in which ZnO is reduced to zinc metal.

ZnO + C  ⎯1673 K→ Zn + CO