The Recovery of Tellurium from Copper Anode Slimes by Hydrometallurgical Processes

The recovery of tellurium from Te-cement obtained during the processing of copper anode slimes was carried out by a series of hydrometallurgical processes, i.E. leaching Te-cement in NaOH solution, precipitation of impurities with the addition of ${Na}_{2}S$ followed by direct electrowinning of tellurium in NaOH solution. The optimum conditions for each process were determined and discussed in terms of various parameters associated with each step to maximize the recovery and purity of tellurium. The final purity of tellurium from electrownning in alkaline solution was found to be more than 99.9%.