# galena smelting



## handypur (Jan 21, 2014)

May i know how to smelt galena? I have galena mining in Indonesia, since January 2014, our government make decision not to export galena ore anymore. Thanks before the answer.


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## nickvc (Jan 21, 2014)

To be honest I don't think there is a cheap way to process this material effectively or safely.
While the ore will have lead and some silver it also can contain some very unpleasant or even highly toxic elements such as arsenic not to mention the risk posed by creating lead oxide which is also highly toxic and the fumes from roasting the material can also form other toxic gases.
This material needs to be processed with the proper equipment and with full environmental controls in place, neither of which will come cheap, if you can't export the material try to find a partner to come to your country to operate the plant there.
As I keep saying ores really are a specialised field and many if not all contain toxic and or deadly elements which need addressing with the proper set up and a must for all is a full element assay to identify not only the values but any potential hazards contained within them.


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## Gratilla (Jan 21, 2014)

handypur said:


> May i know how to smelt galena? I have galena mining in Indonesia, since January 2014, our government make decision not to export galena ore anymore. Thanks before the answer.



You're referring, of course, to the provision in the 2009 Mining Law which required primary ore to be processed in-country, effectively banning export of unprocessed ore (not just galena) from 2014. You might be pleased to hear that this provision was postponed last week until 2017, with partial bans coming into effect in stages until that date.

Indonesian law is surprisingly strict on granting permission for galena processing (more so than most of the other minerals) and I seriously doubt that a new operation will find registration easy (even with generous under-the-table contributions). <Did I just say that on a public forum?>

From conversations I had with interested parties on this subject in 2010, I discovered that a new processing plant had been granted permission to operate in Sumatra; they may be persuaded to process your ore (depending on its chemical make-up). More recently, an Australian company with appropriate technology may be interested in a JV, but you would need to show at least 50% of the investment.

BTW, would your mining operation be located in the West Java/Banten area, by any chance?


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