It is recovered commercially from the anode muds produced during the electrolytic refining of blister copper. The U.S., Canada, Peru, and Japan are the largest Free World producers of the element.
Crystalline tellurium has a silvery-white appearance, and when pure exhibits a metallic luster.
It is brittle and easily pulverized. Amorphous tellurium is found by precipitating tellurium from a solution of telluric or tellurous acid. Whether this form is truly amorphous, or made of minute crystals, is open to question. Tellurium is a p-type semiconductor, and shows greater conductivity in certain directions, depending on alignment of the atoms. Its conductivity increases slightly with exposure to light.