Cadmium Plant

A new Cadmium Plant was built in 1991 to process a two-fold increase in cadmium input from the Red Dog mine. Purification residues from the Oxide Leaching Plant and the Sulphide Leaching Plant are leached with cell house acid and filtered through three stages to remove zinc, copper, and thallium prior to prilling the dissolved cadmium.

The final step in purification of cadmium metal is a vacuum distillation process that can produce up to 1400 t/a of an ultra pure cadmium metal. Cadmium is sold in various forms – billets, balls, and sticks – to meet customers' requirements.

In the photograph below, operators prepare to package 510-g cadmium balls. This metal is also produced in 1-kg sticks. Trail's primary customers for cadmium are battery manufacturers.