Patent ID: 7674441

Claim:
A method of manufacturing high purity hafnium, comprising the steps of: making an aqueous solution of a chloride of hafnium removing zirconium from the aqueous solution via organic solvent extraction, wherein TBP is used as the organic solvent, and performing neutralization treatment to obtain hafnium oxide, performing chlorination to the hafnium oxide to obtain hafnium chloride, reducing said hafnium chloride to obtain a hafnium sponge, a moisture content in the hafnium chloride before said reducing step and in the atmosphere being 0.1 wt % or less and a nitrogen content therein being 0.1 wt % or less, a reduction atmosphere used in said reducing step being an argon atmosphere, and said reducing step being performed under a positive pressure of 1 atmospheric pressure or greater, and subjecting the hafnium sponge to electron beam melting to obtain a hafnium ingot.