Cadmium - Production

Production

The British Geological Survey reports that in 2001, China was the top producer of cadmium, producing almost one-sixth of the world share, closely followed by South Korea and Japan.

Cadmium is a common impurity in zinc ores, and it is most often isolated during the production of zinc. Some zinc ores concentrates from sulfidic zinc ores contain up to 1.4% of cadmium. In 1970s, the output of cadmium was 6.5 pounds per ton of zinc. Zinc sulfide ores are roasted in the presence of oxygen, converting the zinc sulfide to the oxide. Zinc metal is produced either by smelting the oxide with carbon or by electrolysis in sulfuric acid. Cadmium is isolated from the zinc metal by vacuum distillation if the zinc is smelted, or cadmium sulfate is precipitated out of the electrolysis solution.

  • World production trend

  • Cadmium output in 2005

Read more about this topic:  Cadmium

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