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Industry: Primary Metals

 

Primary metals companies smelt and refine iron, aluminum, and other metals. They start with ore, pig iron, or scrap metal. They roll, draw, and alloy metals. They make castings, nails, spikes, wires, cables, and other basic metal products. This industry includes foundries.

Foundries use electrometallurgical processes and similar techniques. Smelting and refining usually produces metal ingots. Foundries use ingots to create other products. First, workers heat and melt ingots, then pour the molten metal into molds and let them cool. In this way, they make castings and other basic metal products. When metals are still warm and flexible, workers can roll, draw, and extrude them to make sheets, strips, bars, rods, and wires.

Source: Minnesota Department of Education