Why Invest in Tellurium
Why Invest in Tellurium
The Solar Power Factor
One of the Planet's Rarest Elements
Tellurium (te-LOOR-ee-um), symbol Te, is one of earth's rarest elements---rarer than silver, cadmium and indium, and rarer even than the "rare earth" elements scandium and yttrium. While more plentiful than gold and platinum, Te is produced in far smaller quantities. Te has been used primarily as an alloy in steel and copper to improve machinability. Other applications include optical disks, memory chips and thermoelectric devices.
Thin-Film Solar Panels Drive New Demand
Lately Te has taken on new lustre as a key element in thin-film, cadmium-telluride (Cd-Te) solar panels. Cd-Te panels are more efficient and have a 10-15 percent cost advantage over the more widely used silicon panels. As a result, Te demand has skyrocketed. So has the price. Less than two years ago, Te could be purchased for around US$130/kg. Since then the price has more than tripled, to around $400/kg.
Te Demand is Increasing-Te Supply is Not
Annual production estimates of Te vary dramatically, as there are no standardized reporting mechanisms. However, 400 - 500 metric tonnes of Te per year is a reasonable estimate and one the United States Geological Survey agrees with. There is no surplus---meaning industry takes all of it. Te demand is expected to double over the next two-to-three years, but supply will remain the same or even decline unless new sources are established. What this precarious situation means for the price of Te is impossible to predict, but the trend appears to be toward higher prices in the coming years.
Industry Must Locate New Sources
More than 90% of the world's Te is produced as a by-product of electrolytic copper refining. However, declining copper grades have forced mines to use other processes for copper extraction. This has sharply limited the growth of tellurium supply. Very little Te is mined directly. So companies that need Te, such as solar panel manufacturers, are desperately seeking other sources.
World Industrial Minerals and the Deer Horn Te-Au-Ag Property
Understanding the potential Te supply crunch, World Industrial Metals (WIM) of Colorado signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Golden Odyssey Mining (now Deer Horn Metals Ltd. - DHM) whereby WIM was granted first right of refusal to purchase some or all of the Te produced on DHM's Deer Horn Property in British Columbia. The Deer Horn Property is not only contains some of the highest-grade Te found in the world, it is one of very few properties with Te-Au-Ag mineralization. Metallurgical tests show that the Te can be recovered by conventional flotation methods without adversely affecting Au-Ag recoveries.