. . Enrichment of Ores Ores mined from the earth are usually contaminated with large amounts of impurities such as soil, sand, etc., called gangue. The impurities must be removed from the ore prior to the extraction of the metal.
The processes Several steps are involved in the extraction of pure metal from ores. A summary of these steps is given in Fig. . .
Each step is explained in detail in the following sections. used for removing the gangue from the ore are based on the differences between the physical or chemical properties of the gangue and the ore. Different separation techniques are accordingly employed.