# Arsenic

A toxic by-product of copper and gold smelting, used in wood preservatives and in gallium-arsenide chips for phones, satellites and defence.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/arsenic/

Tech & minor metals · No. 47

- EU critical 2023
- US critical 2025
- HHI 4,137 · highly concentrated
 Tech & minor metals · Foundation · Matter

Arsenic is a smelter's waste problem, yet ultra-pure arsenic is essential to gallium-arsenide chips in satellites and defence.

Chart: Illustration: Arsenic

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Arsenic occurs in arsenopyrite and in copper minerals such as enargite, often with gold. Roasting or smelting these ores drives it into the flue dust, from which trioxide is refined.

##### Three things to know

1. China bans imports of copper ore with more than 0.5% arsenic, so for copper miners it is mostly a penalty element.
2. Purity splits arsenic into two markets: 99% metal and trioxide at about $2-4/kg, and 6N-7N metal for semiconductor wafers.
3. The US has made no arsenic trioxide or metal since 1985, and China supplied 95% of its metal imports in 2021-24.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Ores**Copper, gold or cobalt ores with arsenic
2. 2 **Roasting**Arsenic leaves in smelter flue dust
3. 3 **Trioxide**Refined to arsenic trioxide
4. 4 **Acid or metal**Arsenic acid for preservatives, or metal
5. 5 **Purification**99.9999% metal for GaAs wafers
 Covered in [What makes something a commodityCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/what-is-a-commodity/)[From ground to marketCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/from-ground-to-market/)[Criticality and geopoliticsCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/criticality-and-geopolitics/)[How a chemical process works: reactions, separations, catalysts and flowsheetsChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/how-chemical-processes-work/)[How a classic specialty chemical market works: the synthetic dye industryChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/how-a-specialty-market-works-dyes/)

##### Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full

## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/arsenic/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/arsenic/correlation/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/arsenic/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/arsenic/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/arsenic/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/arsenic/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/arsenic/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/arsenic/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/arsenic/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/arsenic/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/arsenic/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/arsenic/links/index.md)