Key Takeaways 85% confidence
- Rio Tinto's Kennecott copper operation in Magna, Utah, recovers roughly 20 tons of tellurium a year from anode slime, the residue left over after copper is electrorefined.
- Kennecott began commercial tellurium production in May 2022 via a $2.9 million recovery circuit, making it one of only two tellurium producers in the United States.
- Canada's 5N Plus refines that tellurium into cadmium telluride semiconductor material, which First Solar uses to manufacture thin-film photovoltaic panels.
- A 25-megawatt solar plant built with those panels was energized at Kennecott in December 2025, completed about two months ahead of schedule with construction partner Bechtel.
- Combined with a 5-megawatt array from 2023, Kennecott's onsite solar capacity is now 30 megawatts across more than 71,000 panels, cutting the site's Scope 2 emissions by about 6% — roughly 20,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year, comparable to removing 4,400 cars from the road.
Rio Tinto's Kennecott copper mine in Utah extracts tellurium from anode slime, copper refining's leftover waste, then uses that tellurium in solar panels now powering 30 megawatts of the mine's own operations.
Analysis 83% confidence
Copper anode slime is the dark, metal-rich sludge that settles at the bottom of the tanks used to electrorefine copper into the near-pure form industry needs. For most of the last century, smelters treated it mainly as a source of gold and silver, the two metals slime is best known for. Tellurium sat further down the value chain — present in small enough quantities, and demanded in small enough volumes, that separating it out rarely paid for itself.
That calculus started to change once thin-film solar technology created sustained demand for the metalloid. Cadmium telluride, or CdTe, panels use tellurium as their light-absorbing layer instead of the silicon wafers found in most rooftop solar installations, and First Solar has built its US manufacturing base around that chemistry. Rio Tinto's Kennecott team first tested pulling tellurium out of the site's slime as early as 1990, shelved the idea, then revived it around 2012 as renewable-energy demand for the metal grew. Construction of a dedicated recovery circuit at the Magna, Utah refinery followed, and the site began commercial tellurium production in May 2022 on a $2.9 million investment — making Kennecott one of only two tellurium producers anywhere in the United States.
What makes the Kennecott case notable is not just that it recovers a byproduct — plenty of copper refiners do that for gold and silver — but that this particular byproduct closes a loop back onto the mine itself. The roughly 20 tons of tellurium Kennecott produces each year is shipped to 5N Plus in Canada, which converts it into cadmium telluride semiconductor material, and on to First Solar, which builds it into finished panels. Some of those panels came back to Kennecott: a 25-megawatt array built with construction partner Bechtel was energized in December 2025, about two months ahead of schedule, adding to a smaller 5-megawatt plant from 2023 for 30 megawatts of onsite solar capacity spread across more than 71,000 panels.
For a copper mine, the emissions math is modest but real — Rio Tinto estimates the buildout cuts Kennecott's Scope 2 emissions by around 6%, about 20,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent a year, similar to taking 4,400 cars off the road. The larger significance is structural. Tellurium has no dedicated mines of its own; global supply rides almost entirely on copper refiners choosing to build recovery circuits rather than on tellurium-specific exploration. Kennecott's project demonstrates a fully North American supply chain, from anode slime to finished panel, for a metal that has historically depended on byproduct volumes recovered wherever copper happens to be refined. As demand for CdTe panels grows alongside the broader US push to build domestic solar manufacturing capacity, other refiners already processing copper slime for gold and silver now have a working template for adding tellurium recovery without opening a new mine — the metal was already coming out of the ground, just left in the waste stream.
Why This Matters 68% confidence
Tellurium has no primary mines of its own — global supply comes almost entirely as a byproduct of copper, and to a lesser extent lead and zinc, refining. That means new tellurium supply grows or shrinks with copper refining capacity and refiners' own investment decisions, not a separate tellurium demand cycle. As more copper refiners weigh recovering tellurium from anode slime the way Kennecott does, the economics of that choice ride on copper throughput and refining margins rather than a standalone tellurium market. For India, which imports the bulk of its solar panel components and has its own ambitions to build thin-film manufacturing capacity, a North American, vertically integrated supply chain for CdTe inputs is one more data point on how concentrated — and how byproduct-dependent — the materials behind next-generation solar technology remain.
Price Impact
Nearly all tellurium supply is a byproduct of copper refining rather than dedicated mining, while demand tied to cadmium telluride thin-film solar manufacturing has been growing steadily. A single new recovery circuit like Kennecott's adds only about 20 tons a year against a much larger base of global annual supply, so the near-term price effect of this specific development is limited on its own — but the broader dynamic of byproduct-only supply chasing structurally growing solar demand tilts the outlook mildly bullish rather than neutral.
Market Snapshot Computed live
Based on metalscost.com's own tracked India reference price as of 2026-08-30 (current). Volume and open interest aren't tracked by this site and are intentionally left blank rather than estimated.
Technical Analysis Computed live
Price is trading below both its 20-period and 50-period moving averages, a bearish alignment.
Breakout probability: Elevated — price is testing the bottom of its recent range.
Fundamental Analysis
Demand Drivers 74% confidence
Demand for tellurium is driven overwhelmingly by cadmium telluride thin-film solar manufacturing, led in the US by First Solar, alongside smaller volumes used in thermoelectric devices and specialty electronics. As global and domestic solar panel production capacity expands, so does the pull on tellurium supply, since no substitute material is used at meaningful scale in CdTe panels.
Supply Drivers 82% confidence
Tellurium has no dedicated mines; essentially all of it is recovered as a byproduct of copper (and smaller volumes of lead and zinc) electrorefining, so supply growth depends on refiners choosing to build recovery circuits rather than on tellurium-specific exploration or investment. Kennecott's $2.9 million circuit, commissioned in May 2022, made it one of only two US producers.
Refinery Output 84% confidence
Kennecott recovers roughly 20 tons of tellurium a year from the anode slime generated by its copper electrorefining process at Magna, Utah. That output is processed into finished cadmium telluride semiconductor material by 5N Plus in Canada before reaching First Solar's panel manufacturing lines.
Country Impact 66% confidence
| Country | Impact | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Medium | Hosts the full vertically integrated project — tellurium recovery at Kennecott's Utah refinery and CdTe panel manufacturing at First Solar's US factories — reinforcing a domestic critical-minerals supply chain. — Kennecott's Magna, Utah recovery circuit is one of only two tellurium production sites in the country. |
| Canada | Low | 5N Plus's Montreal-based operations process Kennecott's recovered tellurium into cadmium telluride semiconductor material before it reaches First Solar's panel lines. — 5N Plus converts Kennecott's byproduct tellurium into semiconductor-grade cadmium telluride. |
Industry Impact 71% confidence
| Industry | Effect | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Solar Panel Manufacturing | Positive | A verified, domestic tellurium supply chain reduces First Solar's exposure to import risk for the key input in its cadmium telluride thin-film panels. |
| Copper Refining | Positive | Kennecott's recovery circuit demonstrates a working template other copper refiners processing anode slime could adopt to add a new byproduct revenue stream. |
| Semiconductor Manufacturing | Positive | 5N Plus's processing of copper-refining byproduct tellurium into cadmium telluride adds a specialty-materials link that depends on continued byproduct supply. |
Timeline
1990: Rio Tinto's Kennecott team first tests recovering tellurium from copper anode slime.
2012: Kennecott revisits tellurium recovery as renewable-energy demand for the metal grows.
2022-05: Kennecott begins commercial tellurium production via a new $2.9 million recovery circuit at its Magna, Utah refinery, becoming one of only two US tellurium producers.
2023: Kennecott completes a 5-megawatt onsite solar plant.
2024-10: Construction begins on a new 25-megawatt solar plant at Kennecott, built with Bechtel using panels made partly from Kennecott's own tellurium.
2025-10: The 25-megawatt solar plant is completed, about two months ahead of schedule.
2025-12: The new solar plant is energized, bringing Kennecott's total onsite solar capacity to 30 megawatts across more than 71,000 panels.
Market Sentiment
Bullish Factors 74% confidence
- Cadmium telluride solar panel demand is growing as First Solar expands thin-film manufacturing capacity, and CdTe has no viable large-scale substitute for tellurium.
- Tellurium has no dedicated mines; supply can only grow when copper (or lead/zinc) refiners choose to add recovery circuits like Kennecott's, a slower and less certain path than expanding a primary mine.
- The US currently has only two domestic tellurium producers, leaving a fast-growing CdTe panel industry reliant on a narrow, concentrated supply base.
Bearish Factors 63% confidence
- Kennecott's roughly 20 tons of annual tellurium output is small next to global supply, so a single recovery circuit like this one has limited near-term effect on the broader tellurium market.
- Other copper refiners could follow Kennecott's template and add their own recovery circuits over time, gradually easing today's supply concentration.
Alternative Scenarios 58% confidence
- If more copper refiners globally add tellurium recovery circuits similar to Kennecott's, byproduct supply could grow enough to keep pace with CdTe demand without meaningful price pressure.
- If CdTe panel manufacturers develop lower-tellurium-content cell designs or alternative thin-film chemistries at scale, tellurium's tie to solar demand growth could weaken over time.
Who Benefits, Who Loses
| Party | Stance | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| First Solar and other CdTe panel manufacturers | Bullish | Gain a verified, domestic, North American source of the tellurium their panels depend on, reducing exposure to import supply risk. |
| Copper refiners with existing anode slime processing | Bullish | Kennecott's project is a working template for adding tellurium recovery as a new byproduct revenue stream without new mining. |
| Tellurium traders reliant on non-US supply | Bearish | A growing, vertically integrated North American tellurium-to-solar supply chain reduces the pull on tellurium sourced through international trading channels. |
Investor Watchlist 69% confidence
Educational items to monitor — not investment advice.
- Whether other US or global copper refiners announce new tellurium recovery circuits from anode slime
- First Solar's CdTe panel production capacity expansion plans and tellurium sourcing disclosures
- US critical-minerals policy affecting byproduct metals recovered from copper refining
Price Risks 65% confidence
- Global tellurium supply is small and concentrated among byproduct producers, making it more exposed than most metals to a single refiner's operational disruption.
- A slowdown in CdTe solar panel demand, if silicon panel costs fall further, could reduce the incentive for future tellurium recovery investment.
Historical Comparison
2021 global tellurium supply: Global tellurium production totaled roughly 580 tonnes in 2021, against which Kennecott's approximately 20 tons a year is a small but rare dedicated, US-based recovery source.
United States
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