Method of producing a higher-purity metal

Abstract

A method of producing a higher purity metal comprising the step of electrolyzing a coarse metal material by a primary electrolysis to obtain a primary electrodeposited metal, the step of electrolyzing the material with the primary electrodeposited metal obtained in the primary electrolysis step used as an anode to obtain a higher purity electrolyte for secondary electrolysis, and the step of further performing secondary electrolysis by employing higher purity electrolytic solution than said electrolytic solution with said primary electrodeposited metal as an anode, whereby providing an electro-refining method that effectively uses electrodes and an electrolyte produced in a plurality of electro-refining steps, reuses the flow of an electrolyte in the system, reduces organic matter-caused oxygen content, and can effectively produce a high purity metal.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.