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Tellurium

Professional Paper 1802-R
By: , , , and 
Edited by: Klaus J. Schulz, John H. DeYoung, Jr., Robert R. Seal II, and Dwight C. Bradley
https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1802R

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Abstract

Tellurium (Te) is a very rare element that averages only 3 parts per billion in Earth’s upper crust. It shows a close association with gold and may be present in orebodies of most gold deposit types at levels of tens to hundreds of parts per million. In large-tonnage mineral deposits, such as porphyry copper and seafloor volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits, sulfide minerals may contain hundreds of parts per million tellurium, although the orebodies likely have overall concentrations of 0.1 to 1.0 parts per million tellurium. Tellurium is presently recovered as a primary ore from only two districts in the world; these are the gold-tellurium epithermal vein deposits located adjacent to one another at Dashuigou and Majiagou (Sichuan Province) in southwestern China, and the epithermal-like mineralization at the Kankberg deposit in the Skellefteå VMS district of Västerbotten County, Sweden. Combined, these two groups of deposits account for about 15 percent (about 70 metric tons) of the annual global production of between 450 and 470 metric tons of tellurium. Most of the world’s tellurium, however, is produced as a byproduct of the mining of porphyry copper deposits. These deposits typically yield concentrations of 1 to 4 percent tellurium in the anode slimes recovered during copper refining. Present production of tellurium from the United States is solely from the anode slimes at ASARCO LLC’s copper refinery in Amarillo, Texas, and may total about 50 metric tons per year. The main uses of tellurium are in photovoltaic solar cells and as an additive to copper, lead, and steel alloys in various types of machinery. The environmental data available regarding the mining of tellurium are limited; most concerns to date have focused on the more-abundant metals present in the large-tonnage deposits from which tellurium is recovered as a byproduct. Global reserves of tellurium are estimated to be 24,000 metric tons, based on the amount of tellurium likely contained in global copper reserves and on a 50 percent recovery rate from refinery anode slimes during the commonly used electrolytic process, also known as solvent extraction-electrolytic refining. If the more economical solvent-leach process—a process that does not recover tellurium—is increasingly used in the future to recover lower grades of copper from porphyry and other large-tonnage deposits, then additional high-grade tellurium-rich gold deposits may become new primary sources for tellurium, particularly epithermal vein deposits associated with alkaline magmatism.

Suggested Citation

Goldfarb, R.J., Berger, B.R., George, M.W., and Seal, R.R., II, 2017, Tellurium, chap. R of Schulz, K.J., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., Seal, R.R., II, and Bradley, D.C., eds., Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1802, p. R1–R27, https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1802R.

ISSN: 2330-7102 (online)

ISSN: 1044-9612 (print)

Table of Contents

  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Geology 
  • Resources and Production 
  • Exploration for New Deposits 
  • Environmental Considerations
  • Problems and Future Research 
  • Acknowledgments
  • References Cited
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Tellurium
Series title Professional Paper
Series number 1802
Chapter R
ISBN 978-1-4113-3991-0
DOI 10.3133/pp1802R
Year Published 2017
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) Central Mineral and Environmental Resources Science Center
Description viii, 27 p.
Larger Work Type Report
Larger Work Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Larger Work Title Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply
Online Only (Y/N) N
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details