Due to improved resistance to corrosionCorrosion by copperCopper oxide slagsSlag, alumina-chrome refractoriesRefractories have supplanted traditional magnesia-chrome refractoriesRefractories in the tuyere area in primary copperCopper refiningRefining furnacesFurnace, allowing for significant extensions of furnaceFurnace campaigns over the past decade. A recent field trial was conducted in a primary copperCopper refiningRefining vessel to investigate if transitioning to alumina-chrome refractoriesRefractories would show similar improvements in other areas of the refiningRefining furnaceFurnace. Results of the trial indicated that alumina-chrome bricks subjected to repeated, localized reducingReducing conditions in addition to highly oxidizingOxidizing conditions suffered accelerated corrosionCorrosion compared to alumina-chrome bricks and magnesia-chrome bricks in the surrounding areas. To more closely investigate the mechanisms at play, a laboratory study was conducted to investigate the effects that oxidizingOxidizing and reducingReducing conditions have on alumina-chromeAlumina-chrome brick when exposed to copperCopper oxide. Alumina chrome’s resistance to corrosionCorrosion by copperCopper oxide is driven by the formationFormation of a reaction layer that inhibits further reaction between copperCopper oxide and the alumina chrome refractoryRefractories. It is expected that cyclical exposure to oxidizingOxidizing and reducingReducing conditions during operationOperation reduces the corrosionCorrosion resistance of the alumina-chrome refractoryRefractories due to disruption of this reaction layer. The completed work improves our understanding of the currentCurrent limitations of alumina-chrome refractoryRefractories use in copperCopper refiningRefining vessels and provides insight into how to improve this class of products to overcome those limitations.