Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c20.s1.3

v1.c20.s1.3

At a temperature of 1200°C, iron oxide could be reduced to the metallic and solid state (not molten), provided the partial pressure of oxygen was low and CO/CO₂ ratio in the carbothermic environment high. There are archaeological finds of ‘magnetic copper’ and evidences of accidental production of iron in the copper smelting of sulphide ores. (Ashenbrenner and Cooke, 1975) It is further claimed that copper slags containing iron oxide phases might have been smelted to produce iron. However, it should be noted that iron silicate phases in copper