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Article: Zinc Industry
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
- Author:
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ZINC INDUSTRY
ZINC INDUSTRY.
Zinc was first introduced commercially in the United States during the 1850s, with small-scale smelting plants in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas, near sources of ore and fuel. The principal early use of zinc was in the production of brass, a zinc-copper alloy. The first known domestic zinc production was at the Washington, D.C., arsenal in 1835, by Belgian workers. A furnace was built primarily to produce zinc for making brass to be used in standard weights and measures.
Early zinc production used oxidized forms of the ore, reduced by externally heating closed clay vessels containing a mixture of ore and coal. The vaporized zinc ...