Arsenic: Extraction
Why arsenic is a waste problem before it is a product
What this tab covers How it is mined, drilled or grown, and processed into a tradeable form: the main methods compared, their unit economics, by-products, and the companies that do this work globally and in India.Arsenic is a waste problem before it is a product. It occurs in arsenopyrite and in copper minerals such as enargite, often alongside gold. When these ores are roasted or smelted, arsenic leaves in the flue dust. Some smelters refine this dust into arsenic trioxide, the main traded form. Morocco produces it from cobalt-arsenide ore at Bou Azzer. China has stockpiled orpiment and realgar from gold mines for later recovery. About 95% of supply is a companion product of copper and gold.
Almost all arsenic is a by-product. The main route is to catch arsenic trioxide in the flue dust of copper, gold and lead smelters and refine it. Peru and China, in that order, are the largest producers. Morocco makes arsenic trioxide by a hydrometallurgical process from cobalt-arsenide ore. China also roasts arsenopyrite and realgar or orpiment from gold mines. A small, high-value stream of trioxide is reduced and purified to 6N-7N metal for compound semiconductors. Supply depends on how much arsenic-bearing ore is smelted and on whether a smelter chooses to sell rather than store its arsenic.
Methods compared
| Method | Share of supply | Typical scale | Recovery / efficiency | By-products | Unit cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recovery from copper, gold and lead smelter flue dust | most of world output (Peru 30,000 t and much of China's 24,000 t As2O3 in 2025e) | national output 1,000-30,000 t As2O3 a year (USGS 2025e) | not published | the arsenic is itself the by-product; copper, gold, lead and sulphuric acid are the main products | not published; Chinese trioxide had a US import unit value of $0.43/kg in 2021 (USGS MYB 2021) |
| Hydrometallurgical recovery from cobalt-arsenide ore (Morocco) | about 8% of world output (Morocco 5,000 t of 61,000 t As2O3 in 2025e) | 6,883 t As2O3 in 2021; 5,000 t in 2025e | not published | cobalt (main product) | not published; Moroccan trioxide had a US import unit value of $0.83/kg in 2021 (USGS MYB 2021) |
| Roasting arsenopyrite, realgar and orpiment | part of China's output; not separately reported | not published | not published | gold from refractory ores | not published |
| Reduction and purification to high-purity metal | small; US metal imports were 740 t As in 2025e, 95% from China (2021-24) | tens to hundreds of tonnes a year per country | not published | none of note | not published; 99% metal averaged $1.85/lb in the US in 2025 (Argus via USGS) |
How each method works
Recovery from copper, gold and lead smelter flue dustDuring roasting and smelting, arsenic leaves the furnace as arsenic trioxide vapour. It condenses as the gas cools and is captured in baghouses or precipitators. The crude dust is resublimed to commercial white arsenic of about 95-99% As2O3. Many smelters stabilise and store the dust instead because the market is small.
Turns a pollutant into a saleable product, but output does not respond to arsenic prices.
USGS MCS 2026; USGS Minerals Yearbook 2021, Arsenic Hydrometallurgical recovery from cobalt-arsenide ore (Morocco)At the Guemassa hydrometallurgical complex near Marrakech, Managem treats cobalt-arsenide ore from the Bou Azzer mine. Arsenic is separated during cobalt processing and sold as arsenic trioxide. It is one of the few operations where arsenic is a planned co-product.
Reliable non-Chinese source tied to one mine; volume follows cobalt economics.
USGS MCS 2026; USGS Minerals Yearbook 2021, Arsenic Roasting arsenopyrite, realgar and orpimentIn China, arsenic minerals from gold mines in Sichuan and elsewhere are stockpiled and later roasted to drive off arsenic trioxide. Arsenopyrite, the most abundant arsenic mineral, can also be roasted directly. This route is small outside China.
Uses stockpiled waste, but carries high environmental risk.
USGS MCS 2026 Reduction and purification to high-purity metalArsenic trioxide is reduced with carbon to metal of at least 99%. For semiconductors, the metal is purified by sublimation and other steps to 99.9999% or better and sold to GaAs, InAs and InGaAs crystal growers. Japan and Germany are the main allied suppliers of high-purity metal.
High value per kilogram; few qualified suppliers.
USGS MCS 2026; Metal Tech News (Aug 2026) Unit economics are indicative ranges from the sources named; costs vary widely by deposit, region and year.By-product supply
Companionality is about 95%: arsenic is recovered mainly from copper and gold processing (Nassar et al. 2015). Smelters capture it because they must, not because it pays. World refinery capacity (81,000 t As2O3) is well above output (61,000 t), and USGS estimates reserves at more than 20 times annual output. A higher price does not cause more copper or gold to be smelted, and a lower price simply means more dust is stored as waste, so supply is price-inelastic in both directions.
Share produced as a by-product
About 95% of primary supply comes as a by-product of copper and gold (Nassar, Graedel & Harper 2015, approximate).Who does it: global
| Company | Country | Activity | Volume | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Managem | Morocco | arsenic trioxide from Bou Azzer cobalt-arsenide ore, Guemassa complex | 6,883 t As2O3 (Morocco's output, all from Managem) | 2021 | USGS Minerals Yearbook 2021, Arsenic |
| AXT Inc. One of six firms that together held more than 75% of the GaAs wafer market. Arsenic volume not published. | US/China | GaAs wafers (buyer of high-purity arsenic) | not published | 2021 | USGS Minerals Yearbook 2021; volume not published |
| Sumitomo Electric Industries Arsenic volume not published. | Japan | GaAs wafers (buyer of high-purity arsenic) | not published | 2021 | USGS Minerals Yearbook 2021; volume not published |
| DOWA Electronics Materials Arsenic volume not published. | Japan | GaAs wafers and compound-semiconductor materials | not published | 2021 | USGS Minerals Yearbook 2021; volume not published |
| Freiberger Compound Materials Arsenic volume not published. | Germany | GaAs wafers | not published | 2021 | USGS Minerals Yearbook 2021; volume not published |
| China Crystal Technologies Arsenic volume not published. | China | GaAs wafers | not published | 2021 | USGS Minerals Yearbook 2021; volume not published |
Who does it: India
India has no reported arsenic trioxide or metal production (USGS 2026). It imports arsenic: India took 8.1% of world import value of arsenic (HS 280480) in 2024, about $0.7 million of a $9.1 million world total (UN Comtrade). Arsenic is not on India's 2023 critical minerals list. Arsenic in groundwater, not supply, is India's main arsenic issue.