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Lead properties: Lead is a heavy metal, very soft and malleable and melts easily. Lead smelting was the first metallurgical process known to humans. Lead is less abundant in the earth's crust than copper and zinc and is the thirty-first most abundant element on earth. Lead has an atomic number of 82, light gray in color, and is corrosion resistant. It is one of the heaviest and most stable elements. An important feature of lead is its resistance to sulfuric acid. Lead is virtually insoluble in diluted sulfuric acid; for this reason, lead is often used as a shield against sulfuric acid. Lead is also resistant to hydrochloric acid, in contrast to nitric acid (oxidizing acid).
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Occurrence in nature: Lead and zinc are often found together in nature. Native lead is rare. About 70% of lead is produced from mixed lead and zinc ores, which usually contain more zinc than lead. Almost 20% of lead is mined from mixed ores, in which the amount of lead is higher than zinc, and the remaining 10 percent is produced from lead-copper ores. So far, 130 deposits have been found where lead occurs. Among them, lead sulfide (galena) can be found most often. 90% of lead production is obtained from ore containing galena. Lead is found naturally in the form of sulfide, sulfate, carbonate and lead salts.
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Application of lead:
The main uses of lead can be divided into two; physical and chemical groups:
- Electrical industry (cable sheath)
- Bearing production
- Soldering
- Battery production
- Printing industry
- Galvanized (dissolving anode)
- Paint and varnish industry
- Enameling
- Production of storage tanks for sulfuric acid
- Foundry
- Oil industry
