Mineral resource of the month: tellurium

The article offers information on tellerium, a rare and expensive metal. Tellerium is considered the 71st most abundant element in Earth's crust, along with platinum and palladium. The element belongs to the chalcogen chemical family, and is recovered as a byproduct of nonferrous metal mining. The global demand for tellerium has significantly increased due to the growth in solar cell production in the U.S. and Europe, and thermoplastics in China.