How bronze/smelting could work

So we all know where this is going but I had an idea and wanted to share it here. Smelting: It would be a way to make a bronze alloy, of course but could also be a villager profession or something the piglins do? It would be done in essentially a lava cauldron with mould made from clay (to also give it another use) and stone (or something) Anyway, the reason for the post is that I think a few uses for bronze could be: 1. Make it work like diamonds/netherite, to reinforce iron. This is something they do in real life: Iron - Copper. Copper is added to some steel alloys in low levels up to a few percent to improve corrosion resistance or to increase strength through precipitation hardening. Why? Things like buckets and rails and even horse armor could be stronger and able to withstand a creeper blast for instance. Could also be useful for early game tools and things before you find enough diamonds to make all the enchanted tools you need/want. 2. Bronze items have a longer despawn timer. Why? Like the way netherite doesn't burn in lava as a "perk" to make it worth the effort, since copper has the aging process, I thought making it into bronze could make it "last longer" therefore it takes a bit longer than other items to disappear.