There are numerous viable approaches to the treatment of anode slimes from electrolytic copper refining. Of particular interest in the treatment of slimes are the behavior and recovery of selenium. The understanding of the process chemistry involved in the treatment of anode slimes should be aided considerably by recent work on the formation and characterization of slimes. Most promising is a direct furnace treatment of decopperized and detellurized slimes, in which selenium is volatilized as the dioxide, impurities such as lead are slagged off, and a high-quality dore metal is obtained.