The extraction of a metal from its ore involves a series of steps, which depend on the nature of the ore and the reactivity of the metal. Let's analyze the process for extracting zinc from zinc blende.

1. Identify the Ore: Zinc blende is the mineral name for zinc sulfide (ZnS).

2. Concentration of the Ore: The first step is the concentration of the ore to remove impurities (gangue). For sulfide ores like zinc blende, the froth flotation process is used.

3. Conversion to Oxide (Roasting): The concentrated sulfide ore cannot be directly reduced to the metal easily. It is more convenient to reduce the metal oxide. Therefore, the zinc sulfide ore is converted into zinc oxide by a process called roasting. Roasting involves heating the ore strongly in the presence of excess air. The chemical reaction is: $2\text{ZnS(s)} + 3\text{O}_2(g) \xrightarrow{\Delta} 2\text{ZnO(s)} + 2\text{SO}_2(g)$

4. Reduction of the Oxide to Metal: The zinc oxide formed is then reduced to metallic zinc. Zinc is a moderately reactive metal. For such metals, reduction is commonly carried out using a suitable reducing agent like carbon (in the form of coke) at high temperatures. This process is called smelting. The zinc oxide is mixed with powdered coke and heated to about 1673 K (1400°C) in a furnace. Carbon reduces zinc oxide to molten zinc. $\text{ZnO(s)} + \text{C(s)} \xrightarrow{1673\text{ K}} \text{Zn(l)} + \text{CO(g)}$ Since the temperature of the process (1673 K) is well above the boiling point of zinc (1180 K), the zinc metal is produced as a vapor. The zinc vapor is then condensed to obtain the metal.

5. Evaluating the Options:

   • A: electrolytic reduction: This method is generally used for highly reactive metals like Na, Mg, Al. While electrolytic refining is a method to purify zinc, the primary extraction from the oxide is not done by electrolysis.
   • B: roasting followed by reduction with carbon: This matches our step-by-step analysis. ZnS is roasted to ZnO, which is then reduced by carbon. This is the correct industrial method.
   • C: roasting followed by reduction with another metal: This is a form of displacement reaction (like the thermite process) and is generally more expensive than using carbon. It's not the primary method for zinc extraction.
   • D: roasting followed by self-reduction: This method is suitable for less reactive metals like lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and copper (Cu). Zinc is too reactive for self-reduction to be feasible under normal conditions.

Therefore, the extraction of zinc from zinc blende is achieved by roasting followed by reduction with carbon.