Rio Tinto to build tellurium facility at Utah copper mine

Rio Tinto will begin construction on a new plant to recover tellurium, a critical mineral used in solar panels, from copper refining at its Kennecott mine near Salt Lake City, the company said March 8.

The company will invest $2.9 million to set up the plant, which will recover tellurium as a byproduct of copper smelting, extracting a valuable mineral from waste streams, Rio Tinto said.

The plant will have the capacity to produce roughly 20 mt of tellurium annually, with production expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2021, the company said.

Tellurium is an essential component of cadmium telluride, a semiconductor used to manufacture thin film photovoltaic solar panels.

It can also be used as an additive to steel and copper to improve machinability, making these metals easier to cut.