A physical and chemical method is provided for de-mixing (e.g. extracting, separating, purifying and/or enriching) the metal constituents of an alloy or mixed material into different droplet or solid particle products that are highly enriched in the respective phases of the metal. The method involves for instance but is not limited to, shearing, separating and segregating metallic droplets and particles in a carrier fluid to form other droplets or particles that are each separately highly enriched in one of some, if not of all, of the constituent phases of the alloy or mixed material.

A physical and chemical method is provided for de-mixing (e.g. extracting, separating, purifying and/or enriching) the metal constituents of an alloy or mixed material into different droplet or solid particle products that are highly enriched in the respective phases of the metal. The method involves for instance but is not limited to, shearing, separating and segregating metallic droplets and particles in a carrier fluid to form other droplets or particles that are each separately highly enriched in one of some, if not of all, of the constituent phases of the alloy or mixed material.

A physical and chemical method is provided for de-mixing (e.g. extracting, separating, purifying and/or enriching) the metal constituents of an alloy or mixed material into different droplet or solid particle products that are highly enriched in the respective phases of the metal. The method involves for instance but is not limited to, shearing, separating and segregating metallic droplets and particles in a carrier fluid to form other droplets or particles that are each separately highly enriched in one of some, if not of all, of the constituent phases of the alloy or mixed material.

Provided is low alpha-ray emitting bismuth having an alpha dose of 0.003 cph/cm.sup.2 or less. Additionally provided is a method of producing low alpha-ray emitting bismuth, wherein bismuth having an alpha dose of 0.5 cph/cm.sup.2 or less is used as a raw material, the raw material bismuth is melted in a nitric acid solution via electrolysis to prepare a bismuth nitrate solution having a bismuth concentration of 5 to 50 g/L and a pH of 0.0 to 0.4, the bismuth nitrate solution is passed through a column filled with ion-exchange resin to eliminate polonium contained in the solution by an ion-exchange resin, and bismuth is recovered by means of electrowinning from the solution that was passed through the ion-exchange resin. Recent semiconductor devices are of high density and high capacity, and therefore are subject to increased risk of soft errors caused by the effects of alpha rays emitted from materials in the vicinity of semiconductor chips. In particular, there is a strong demand for higher purification of solder materials used near semiconductor devices, and there is a demand for low alpha-ray emitting materials. Therefore, the present invention aims to elucidate the phenomenon of alpha ray generation from bismuth, and to provide a low alpha-ray emitting, high-purity bismuth that can be applied to the required materials and a production method thereof, as well as to provide an alloy of low alpha-ray emitting bismuth and tin and a production method thereof.

Provided is low alpha-ray emitting bismuth having an alpha dose of 0.003 cph/cm.sup.2 or less. Additionally provided is a method of producing low alpha-ray emitting bismuth, wherein bismuth having an alpha dose of 0.5 cph/cm.sup.2 or less is used as a raw material, the raw material bismuth is melted in a nitric acid solution via electrolysis to prepare a bismuth nitrate solution having a bismuth concentration of 5 to 50 g/L and a pH of 0.0 to 0.4, the bismuth nitrate solution is passed through a column filled with ion-exchange resin to eliminate polonium contained in the solution by an ion-exchange resin, and bismuth is recovered by means of electrowinning from the solution that was passed through the ion-exchange resin. Recent semiconductor devices are of high density and high capacity, and therefore are subject to increased risk of soft errors caused by the effects of alpha rays emitted from materials in the vicinity of semiconductor chips. In particular, there is a strong demand for higher purification of solder materials used near semiconductor devices, and there is a demand for low alpha-ray emitting materials. Therefore, the present invention aims to elucidate the phenomenon of alpha ray generation from bismuth, and to provide a low alpha-ray emitting, high-purity bismuth that can be applied to the required materials and a production method thereof, as well as to provide an alloy of low alpha-ray emitting bismuth and tin and a production method thereof.

A method for comprehensively processing noble lead provided and utilizes two instances of vacuum distillation to realize an open circuit of arsenic, lead, antimony and bismuth and the high-efficiency enrichment of precious metals of gold and silver, and can obtain elemental arsenic, a lead-bismuth-antimony alloy, a silver alloy and a copper alloy, respectively. The lead-bismuth-antimony alloy, the silver alloy and the copper alloy are processed by oxidation refining, electrorefining and chlorination refining to obtain refined lead, refined antimony, antimony trioxide, electrolytic silver and electrolytic copper, and to realize gold enrichment. The entire process has advantages of high metal direct yield, low energy consumption, short flow chart, simple equipment, etc., and vacuum distillation belongs to a physical process in which the alloy can be separated only by means of the difference in saturated vapor pressure between the metals, without generation of wastewater, waste gas and waste residue.

A reduction device using a liquid metal, which can improve the oxidation reaction of a reducing agent for reducing a material to be reduced using a liquid metal, while simultaneously effectively controlling the same. The reduction device according to the present invention comprises: a storage unit in which the liquid metal is supplied and stored; a reducing agent positioned in the storage unit; a reduction unit positioned on a side of the storage unit, which receives a material to be reduced and enables fluid communication with the storage unit; and a liquid metal storage unit. According to the present invention, a reducing agent, which has strong reducing ability, is sublimated using a liquid metal, thereby further improving the reduction capability, and the same is also controlled precisely, thereby removing restrictions on use resulting from the explosive reaction of the reducing agent and guaranteeing efficient operation.

A reduction device using a liquid metal, which can improve the oxidation reaction of a reducing agent for reducing a material to be reduced using a liquid metal, while simultaneously effectively controlling the same. The reduction device according to the present invention comprises: a storage unit in which the liquid metal is supplied and stored; a reducing agent positioned in the storage unit; a reduction unit positioned on a side of the storage unit, which receives a material to be reduced and enables fluid communication with the storage unit; and a liquid metal storage unit. According to the present invention, a reducing agent, which has strong reducing ability, is sublimated using a liquid metal, thereby further improving the reduction capability, and the same is also controlled precisely, thereby removing restrictions on use resulting from the explosive reaction of the reducing agent and guaranteeing efficient operation.

Provided is a recovery method for valuable metals in copper anode slime. By using the recovery method of the disclosure, selenium, copper, tellurium, arsenic, lead, bismuth, and precious metals gold and silver in the copper anode slime are recovered. The method adopts two-step vacuum carbothermal reduction to replace reduction smelting of anode slime and stepwise blowing of noble lead in the traditional pyrometallurgy, and avoids the emission of arsenic-containing soot in the traditional process. The recovered gold-rich residue contains almost no base metals such as lead, bismuth, antimony, and arsenic. After subjecting the gold-rich residue to leaching gold by chlorination and reduction, a gold powder could be obtained therefrom with a lower content of base metals than traditional processes. Therefore, the method greatly reduces the amount of produced slag, shortens the production cycle, and reduces the loss of precious metals in the slag.

Provided is a recovery method for valuable metals in copper anode slime. By using the recovery method of the disclosure, selenium, copper, tellurium, arsenic, lead, bismuth, and precious metals gold and silver in the copper anode slime are recovered. The method adopts two-step vacuum carbothermal reduction to replace reduction smelting of anode slime and stepwise blowing of noble lead in the traditional pyrometallurgy, and avoids the emission of arsenic-containing soot in the traditional process. The recovered gold-rich residue contains almost no base metals such as lead, bismuth, antimony, and arsenic. After subjecting the gold-rich residue to leaching gold by chlorination and reduction, a gold powder could be obtained therefrom with a lower content of base metals than traditional processes. Therefore, the method greatly reduces the amount of produced slag, shortens the production cycle, and reduces the loss of precious metals in the slag.