Electron beam refinement of metals, particularly copper

It has been discovered that suprisingly effective removal of impurities from copper can be achieved using electron beam distillation, especially with respect to relatively low amounts of impurities such as Ag, Se, Te, S, Bi and Pb. Certain pretreatments of unrefined metal prior to electron beam irradiation significantly improve overall results. These include iron and/or oxygen removal treatments. In a particularly advantageous embodiment, these impurity removal treatments and combinations thereof are achieved in conjunction with a new method of electron beam distillation of metals which involves a horizontal multistage system with recycle of the condensed vapor phases.