Optimization studies of plasma smelting of red mud were carried out. Reduction of the dried red mud fines was done in an extended arc plasma reactor to recover the pig iron. Lime grit and low ash metallurgical (LAM) coke were used as the flux and reductant, respectively. 2level factorial design was used to study the influence of all parameters on the responses. Response surface modeling was done with the data obtained from statistically designed experiments. Metal recovery at optimum parameters was found to be 79.52%. Optimization studies of plasma smelting of red mud were carried out. Reduction of the dried red mud fines was done in an extended arc plasma reactor to recover the pig iron. Lime grit and low ash metallurgical (LAM) coke were used as the flux and reductant , respectively. 2level factorial design was used to study the influence of all parameters on the responses. Response surface modeling was done with the data obtained from statistically designed experiments. Metal recovery at optimum parameters was found to be 79.52%.