Historical and Actual Production of Indium

Abstract

Indium is principally recovered as a by-product of zinc processing. The known resources of indium therefore are closely related to the deposits of zinc currently being exploited. The indium content of zinc ores mined in 1995 was estimated at just below 150 tons, increased to 175 tons in 1997 and significantly to 215 tons in 1999. The estimated world refinery indium production reached approximately 220 tons in the year 2000 (Brown 2001) which represents an almost fifty per cent increase over the last five years. The principal sources of zinc ores and associated indium are Canada, Australia, China, Peru, and the USA. These five countries accounted for over 60% of the total mine production of zinc in 1995 (Roskill Information Services 1996). The estimated mine production of indium in 1995 is given in Table 7.1, based on the assumption that sphalerite ores contain 67% zinc and an average of 15 ppm indium (Roskill Information Services 1996).