Abstract: A method of producing titanium. A quantity of titianium is heated in a crucible to provide a melt, and a layer of slag, containing an ionizable titanium compound, such as titanium dioxide, along with ionizable slag constituents, is disposed on the top of the melt. The slag is then heated to a molten state by direct current plasma arc heating with the melt being anodic. After the slag is molten, the polarity of the plasma arc heating is reversed so that the melt is cathodic, causing the slag to act as an electron transfer layer so that the titanium dioxide of the slag is reduced to titanium and any dissolved oxygen in the melt is converted to an ionic species of oxygen at the interface between the slag and the melt. The resulting liquid titanium is combined with the melt, while the ionic species of oxygen is carried upwardly through the slag and released from the slag layer by an oxidation process.