Logo image
Back
Extraction of tellurium from lead and copper bearing feed materials and interim metallurgical products – A short review
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Extraction of tellurium from lead and copper bearing feed materials and interim metallurgical products – A short review

F.M. Makuei and G. Senanayake
Minerals Engineering, Vol.115, pp.79-87
2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2017.10.013
url
Link to Published Version *Subscription may be requiredView

Abstract

Tellurium is a rare metalloid with relatively low abundance in the earth’s crust (0.001–0.005 g/t) compared to the crustal abundance of gold (0.0031 g/t) and platinum (0.0037 g/t). It is mainly used as an additive to an assortment of compounds and alloys in various industries. It is primarily produced from intermediates or byproducts of metallurgical processes. About 90% of tellurium is produced from copper anode slimes generated during electrolytic refining of blister copper and the remainder from processing of bismuth, lead and gold ores. The production of CdTe solar cells photovoltaic (PV) modules for generation of low-cost solar electricity consumes 40% of global tellurium output. This review summarises the current knowledge on distribution of tellurium species in processing of tellurium bearing minerals and identifies some metallurgical process streams and interim products from lead and copper bearing feed materials which could be valuable sources for extraction of tellurium.

Details

Metrics

105 Record Views
71 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Citation topics
7 Engineering & Materials Science
7.229 Mineral & Metal Processing
7.229.774 Bioleaching
Web Of Science research areas
Engineering, Chemical
Mineralogy
Mining & Mineral Processing
ESI research areas
Geosciences
Logo image