One of the most important elements for solar panel production has just been declared a critical mineral by Australia.
What’s happening:
- The Australian Department Of Industry, Science and Resources has officially declared tellurium to be a critical mineral
- The new addition sees tellurium join Australia's list of critical minerals that includes lithium, cobalt, graphite and other elements that are vital to the energy transition
The big idea:
- Tellurium is a critical input for many important technologies for the energy transition such as solar panel production
- Tellurium is widely used for manufacturing the films that are essential to photovoltaic solar cells
- When combined with other elements, tellurium is able to form a compound that enhances electrical conductivity and allows the thin films on solar panels to absorb sunlight and turn it into electricity
Going deeper:
- Tellurium is one of the least common elements in the world and is typically found in small rock deposits, often making it challenging to mine at significant scale
- China is currently the largest producer of tellurium globally
- Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, India and South Korea have also all declared tellurium to be a critical mineral
By the numbers:
- Tellurium is consider to be approximately 8x less abundant than gold
