Production method for valuable metals

A method for producing a valuable metal comprising copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), and cobalt (Co) from a raw material comprising the valuable metal, the method comprising:

• a preparation step of preparing a raw material comprising at least lithium (Li), aluminum (Al), and the valuable metal;
• a reductive melting step of subjecting the raw material to a reductive melting treatment using a melting furnace provided with a cooling means for cooling a furnace wall from outside so as to obtain a reduced product comprising a slag and an alloy comprising the valuable metal;
• and
• a slag separation step of separating the slag from the reduced product to recover the alloy, wherein
• in one or both of the preparation step and the reductive melting step, a flux comprising calcium (Ca) is added to the raw material,
• in the reductive melting step, the reductive melting treatment is performed at a slag heating temperature of 1,500° C. or higher and 1,600° C. or lower, while the furnace wall of the melting furnace is cooled by the cooling means, a solidified slag layer having a Ca/Al value of 0.45 or less, the Ca/Al value being smaller than a Ca/Al value in the slag, or a solidified slag layer comprising 15 mass % or more of Al and 3 mass % or more of Li is formed on an inner surface of the melting furnace.