Metal production

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF A REFRACTORY METAL SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF NIOBIUM, TANTALUM, MOLYBDENUM, AND TUNGSTEN, COMPRISING HEATING A BED OF SALT PARTICLES IN WHICH THE SALT IS SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF ALKALI METAL CHLORIDES WHEREIN THE METAL HAS AN ATOMIC NUMBER OF AT LEAST 11, ALKALINE EARTH METAL CHLORIDES, AND MIXTURES OF THESE SALTS, AND WHEN THE TEMPERATURE OF SAID BED REACHES THAT AT WHICH THE PARTICLES OF SALT SOFTEN AND STICK TOGETHER, OVERCOMING THE STICKING OF THE BED BY FLUIDIZING IT WITH A GASEOUS MIXTURE OF HYDROGEN AND A REFRACTORY METAL CHLORIDE IN WHICH THE QUANTITY OF HYDROGEN IS BASED UPON THE STOICHIOMETRIC AMOUNT REQUIRED FROM THE REDUCTION OF THE REFRACTORY METAL CHLORIDES TO ELEMENTAL METAL, SAID QUANTITY BEING AT LEAST 40 TIMES THE STOICHIOMETRIC AMOUNT CONSISTING OF NIOBIUM AND TANALUM AND AT LEAST A STOICHIOMETRIC AMOUNT WHEN THE REFRACTORY METAL IS SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF MOLYDBENUM AND TUNGSTEN, MAINTAINING THE FLUIDIZATION OF THE BED AND CONTINUING SAID HEATING UNTIL OPERATING TEMPERATURES OF 650*C. 950*C. AND NOT ABOVE THE MELTING POINT OF THE SALT BED PARTICLES ARE REACHED, THUS REDUCING THE REFRACTORY METAL CHLORIDE TO REFRACTORY METAL AND DEPOSITING SAID METAL UPON THE PARTICLES OF THE FLUIDIZED SALT BED, RECOVERING THE SALT PARTICLES OF THE WITH THE REFRACTORY METAL DEPOSITED THEREON, AND THEN SEPARATING THE SALT FROM THE DEPOSITED REFRACTORY METAL.