Overview
Bismuth is not mined the ordinary way. It is skimmed off as a by-product of lead, copper, tin and tungsten refining — from anode slimes, drosses and flue dusts. Its volume is set by lead and copper production plans, not by demand for bismuth. And the fraction that went into solution at the refinery leaves with the electrolyte bleed and the wash waters. Nobody extracts it that way, so nobody calls it feedstock.
World output is approximately 16,000 t/year — less than one day of copper mining. China holds about 80 % of output and refining, and bismuth sits under Chinese export control alongside tungsten, tellurium, molybdenum and indium. The price was $67.00/kg on 31 July 2026: up 25.5 % in a year and 215.6 % in two, at a 17-year high.
The structural point is a regulatory paradox. The harder the world bans lead, the more bismuth it needs — and bismuth is a by-product of lead.
ARBOK-Bismuth takes it out of the effluent that the refinery has to clean anyway.
Applications
Medicine. Bismuth subsalicylate and subcitrate are first-line therapy for ulcers and *H. pylori* eradication, and the basis of over-the-counter stomach remedies.
Electronics. Bismuth telluride Bi₂Te₃ is itself a narrow-gap semiconductor. It becomes the Peltier elements that cool laser diodes, infrared arrays and hot spots on the die.
Lead-free alloys. Solders, brass and free-machining steel for drinking-water fittings — bismuth moved in where the law evicted lead.
Other. Fusible alloys, pigments, cosmetics.
Operating Principle
ARBOK-ZWD takes the refinery effluent stream whole and separates it by phase transition under deep vacuum at the temperature of the surroundings, rather than targeting bismuth as a solute.
Water is returned at 100 % of intake with zero discharge. Every dissolved salt leaves as a dry fraction, split by density. Bismuth is concentrated and sent to compact refining, with lead, copper, silver and selenium alongside it from the same pass. Arsenic is immobilised and acid effluent is neutralised in the same operation.
No membranes, no reagents, no consumables.
The reason this works where selective extraction does not is that the metal in these streams is accounted as loss rather than inventory: it is already dissolved, the refinery already carries a treatment obligation on the water, and the separation cost is set by volume rather than by the concentration of any one species.
Key Parameters
| Parameter | Value |
|—|—|
| Process | ARBOK-ZWD, deep-vacuum phase separation |
| Working temperature | ambient — no heat supplied, no setpoint |
| Module | 20-ft container, 200 m³/day, that is 73,000 m³/year |
| Water return | 100 % of intake; zero discharge |
| Outputs | dry fractions split by density; bismuth concentrate to compact refining |
| Companion metals | lead, copper, silver, selenium from the same stream |
| Side effects in the same pass | arsenic immobilised, acid effluent neutralised |
| Consumables | none — no membranes, no reagents |
Market context for the metal:
| Parameter | Value |
|—|—|
| Price | $67.00/kg on 31 July 2026; +25.5 % in a year, +215.6 % in two; 17-year high |
| World output | ~16,000 t/year — less than one day of copper mining |
| Concentration of supply | China ~80 % of output and refining |
| Trade status | under Chinese export control, with tungsten, tellurium, molybdenum, indium |
| Source of supply | by-product of lead, copper, tin, tungsten refining — anode slimes, drosses, flue dusts |
Architecture and Components
Containerised 20-ft ARBOK-ZWD module rated 200 m³/day on the refinery effluent line: deep-vacuum separation stage, vapour condensation and full water return, dry-fraction collection with density separation. Downstream, a compact refining unit converts the bismuth concentrate and its companion metals into products.
Detailed equipment specification: [требует уточнения из базы].
Advantages
Feedstock already paid for. The dissolution step happened inside someone else's process, and the effluent must be treated regardless.
Companion recovery. Lead, copper, selenium and silver come out of the same pass, so bismuth does not have to carry the economics alone.
Two liabilities removed at once. Arsenic is immobilised and acid effluent neutralised in the same operation, so the arsenic sludge handling cost disappears rather than shifting.
Supply position. Bismuth is under export control from a single dominant supplier; effluent recovery is the one route that does not depend on that supplier's licence.
Operationally. Containerised, no membranes, no reagents, no consumables, full water return.
Integrations
ARBOK-Ruthenium · ARBOK-Rhodium · ARBOK-Iridium · ARBOK-Purification · ARBOK-Arsenic · ARBOK-Antimony
The same containerised module and the same second-stage refining serve the other by-product metals recovered from refinery and mine-drainage streams.
Deployment & Operation
Installed on the effluent line of a lead, copper, tin or tungsten refinery. Named target geographies:
- Peru, Mexico, Chile, Kazakhstan — lead-copper refineries
- Japan, South Korea, Belgium, Germany, Poland — major non-ferrous refineries
- Canada, United States — processing capacity outside the Chinese loop
- Any jurisdiction where law is pushing lead out and bismuth is taking its place
TRL
TRL 8 — проставлен Михаилом 2026-08-06.
Market Potential
Bismuth is scarce not because there is little of it. It sits in every lead-copper refinery, dissolved, in effluent that must be cleaned anyway. While it is poured away, countries buy it at $67/kg from one supplier, under licence.
Demand is structurally coupled to lead substitution regulation, which continues to tighten.
Quantified market sizing: [требует уточнения из базы].
Typical Project Economics
Single 20-ft module at 200 m³/day, that is 73,000 m³/year:
| Bismuth in feed | Recovered | Value |
|—|—|—|
| 0.1 g/L | ~7 t/year | ~$500,000 |
| 0.5 g/L | ~37 t/year | ~$2.5 M |
| 1 g/L | ~73 t/year | ~$5 M |
Additional lines on the same stream:
- Copper, lead and selenium: ~$0.7 M/year. Silver on top of that can double the line.
- Water returned, 73,000 m³: ~$0.1 M/year.
- Discharge removed: arsenic sludge handling runs about $5/m³, that is ~$0.4 M/year that stops being spent.
Total at 0.5 g/L bismuth: approximately $3.7 M a year from a single 20-ft container.
Risk Factors
No readiness rating is recorded in the base for this application. Bismuth concentrations in refinery bleed and wash water are not published and vary by plant and by process step, so site-specific assay is a precondition — the figures above are a range by design. The economics lean on companion metals and on avoided arsenic-sludge handling as much as on bismuth itself, so both need confirming per site. World output is only ~16,000 t/year, which makes the market thin enough that volume released without regard to price would move it. Handling arsenic-bearing streams carries its own permitting exposure even when the arsenic is immobilised.
Related Technologies
ARBOK-Ruthenium · ARBOK-Rhodium · ARBOK-Iridium · ARBOK-Purification · ARBOK-Arsenic · ARBOK-Antimony · ARBOK-Brine