Nearly all the selenium and tellurium traded and consumed commercially is derived from the copper industry in refinery slimes. Invariably, these minor metals which are byproducts of refined copper must be recovered because of their association with precious metals in the anode slimes. In their own right, selenium and tellurium winning is also justifiable because of the favorable economics, when properly conducted, and because of the interesting demand patterns. The first part of this paper examines the supply side of the metals within the framework of copper refinery data. A second part of the paper examines the applications of the metals.
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