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

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.