I suspect the smelting of copper ore like many of the things we have today were discovered by accident. In Egypt they were using copper and bronze saws to slab large pieces of flint. Many of the Giza blades were from flint slabs and hand ground to get a good contour. Once that was accomplished they were carefully pressure flaked into some of the most beautiful flint blades known.
I’ve got some great pic’s of these blades but due to FR’s requiring a third party hosting I’m unable to share.
Well, maybe discovered by accident but the skill involved didn’t allow much room for error. One misstep and you’d end up with slag-filled copper ingot that would break on first use. These skills must have been passed on carefully, from one mentor to another, before the invention of writing.
Ancient meaning found of the word FARMER: He_who_cannot_hunt