History of Lead

Lead is one of the oldest metals in the world. Due to its low melting point and good formability. Man could find it very early. The knowledge and use of Lead goes back as far as 5000-7000 B.C. to the ancient Egyptians time .The metal was used by the Phoenicians, Romans, Persian, Indians and Chinese.

The Phoenicians were aware of the extraction of lead from ores .Probably around 2000 B.C., they migrated to Spain, France, and England and… Around 2000 B.S., they operated the first lead mines in Rio –Tinto in Spain. The Romans mined in Rio –Tinto region of Spain in 300 B.C. They used lead extensively for water piping and lining baths, soldering, preparation of lead oxide and the word plumber who joins and mends pipes, takes his name from the Latin "Plumbum". The average life span of Romans was about 32 year at that time probably because they used the lead pipe for drinking water.

The Greeks operated lead mines at Laurium in the fifth century B.C. Laurium mines were operated extensively by a French company. During 700-1000 A.C. lead and silver mines were operated in the region of Harz (Germany). In 1200 the lead mine of Saxon and Bochum in Germany were operated. From 1620 lead mines of USA were operated but in the nineteenth century, USA entered the lead production industry because of its major natural resources, and followed by Australia and Canada.

The development of sinter roasting is by Huntington and Heberlein (1896), who proposed that lead ores mixed with limestone chips be roasted in a converter with an air (blast roasting). In 1905-1908 Dwight and Lloyd devised a continuous sintering machine with a sinter belt.