Metallurgical Uses of Lime
The largest use of lime is in steel manufacturing, where it serves as a flux to remove impurities (silica, phosphorus, and sulfur). Lime is used in basic oxygen furnaces and electric arc furnaces, as well as in secondary refining. High calcium and dolomitic lime used in the steel industry must meet exacting physical and chemical properties.
Lime is also essential to the production of non-ferrous metals. For example, lime is used to beneficiate copper ore, to make alumina and magnesia for use in aluminum and magnesium manufacture, to extract uranium, and to recover gold and silver. This area provides a discussion on how lime is used to produce iron, steel, and non-ferrous metals.