A spouted-bed electrode (SBE) is one form of a class of electrodes called "particulate electrodes." The best known such electrode is the fluidized-bed electrode (FBE) that, despite early promise, has found only limited application in the deposition of metals from solution. The novel SBE is a cathode where copper is deposited at a high-current density in a slowly moving bed of copper particles. The article describes an investigation at the University of California, Berkeley into the spouted-bed electrowinning of copper. The effect of operational variables on copper deposition, from electrolytes similar to those encountered in conventional copper electrowinning, onto a spouted-bed cathode have been examined. Anodic reactions used to obtain the results in this part of the article have been the evolution of oxygen on a DSA* anode and the oxidation of a copper matte. A third anodic reaction *DSA is a trademark of Eltech Corp., Chardon, Ohio.is treated in Part II. Despite a high-current density, the electrical-energy consumption was equal to or lower than that in conventional electrowinning