Continuous process of smelting metallic lead directly from lead-and sulfur-containing materials

In a continuous process of smelting metallic lead directly from lead- and sulfur-containing materials, said lead- and sulfur-containing materials containing at least one metal of the group tin, arsenic, antimony and zinc, in an elongated horizontal reactor, which materials also contain bismuth, wherein a molten bath consisting of a slag phase containing at least one metal of the group of tin, arsenic, antimony and zinc and a lead phase is maintained in the reactor, the charge is fed into the reactor at one end thereof onto the molten bath in a melting zone so as to maintain an oxidation potential in an oxidation zone which causes formation of a metallic lead phase and a slag phase containing at least one metal of the group tin, arsenic, antimony and zinc, reducing agent is introduced into the slag phase at the other end of the reactor in a reducing zone, and low-lead slag and metallic lead are tapped from their respective phases, the improvement wherein an oxidation potential is maintained in the molten bath in the melting zone such that the lead phase contains 0.05 to 2% by weight sulfur, a high-Bi primary crude lead which becomes available in the melting zone is separately tapped, and the low-Bi secondary crude lead which becomes available in the reducing zone is also separately tapped.