method widely used for removing bismuth from lead by adding calcium and magnesium to a molten lead-bismuth bath. Compounds are formed with bismuth that have higher melting points and lower densities than lead and thus can be separated as a solid dross. Bismuth may then be recovered from the calcium and magnesium by treatment with chlorine. The method, developed for the American Smelting and Refining Company in the 1930s, is sometimes called the Asarco process.