JPS5839214B

Banks of a green non-ferrous metal sulfide ore are formed along the inner surfaces of sidewalls of a reverberatory furnace of green-charge type and are melted thereby to form slag and matte, a major portion of the matte being tapped out of the furnace, while a mixture of the slag and the remainder of the matte is introduced into a separation furnace to be completely separated. During this process, an oxygen-containing gas is blown through lances, past the slag layer made thin by the tapping of the slag-matte mixture, and into the matte underlying the slag in the reverberatory furnace thereby to raise the copper metal content of the matte thus formed and, moreover, to increase the concentration of SO2 in the resulting exhaust gas. By this method, the processing capacity of the reverberatory furnace is increased and, moreover, the load on a converter for further processing of the matte is reduced. At the same time, the exhaust gas can be used directly, as it is, as a starting material for producing sulfuric acid.