Mining Engineering Online

March 9, 2021 Rio Tinto will begin construction at its Kennecott Mine near Salt Lake City, UT on a new plant that will recover tellurium from its copper refining at the mine. Rio Tinto announced in a statement that it is investing $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. The plant will have a capacity to produce approximately 20 t (22 st) of tellurium per year. Rio Tinto expects to begin production of tellurium in the fourth quarter of 2021, creating a new North American supply chain for this critical mineral.