Mendip Hills In some areas the limestone and the dolomitic conglomerate have been mineralised with lead and zinc ores. From the time of Roman Britain until 1908, the hills were an important source of lead. These areas were the centre of a major mining industry in the past and this is reflected in areas of contaminated rough ground known locally as "gruffy". The word "gruffy" is thought to derive from the grooves that were formed where the lead ore was extracted from veins near the surface. Other commodities obtained included calamine (zinc ore), manganese, iron, copper and baryte. The eastern area reaches
Pnictogen be produced by fractional distillation of air. The principal method for producing phosphorus is to reduce phosphates with carbon in an electric arc furnace. Most arsenic is prepared by heating the mineral arsenopyrite in the presence of air. This forms AsO, from which arsenic can be extracted via carbon reduction. However, it is also possible to make metallic arsenic by heating arsenopyrite at 650 to 700 °C without oxygen. With sulfide ores, the method by which antimony is produced depends on the amount of antimony in the raw ore. If the ore contains 25% to 45% antimony by weight, then