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Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
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for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Platinum and palladium recovery from e-waste
Q. We are in the scrap metal business, and I am doing some research on the refining of precious metals out of electronic scrap. Everyone is going on and on about the gold. But what about the platinum and palladium? How do I get those out of there? Any useful info would help a lot.
thank you
scrap metal business owner, hobbyist - Pretoria, Gauteng, South-Africa
November 15, 2009
A. My experience with electronic scrap has been that the amount of platinum or palladium plated on a given part is probably not worth refining yourself. You have to realize the high expense of setting up stripping tanks, heaters, chemicals, separation techniques, permits, experienced personnel, required ventilation, a good furnace (if you want to do the complete job). It's a tough ordeal. If you know for sure these parts do contain precious metals you could separate them in bins and have them refined when you get a quarter ton or so. There is probably a good reason why there are scrap metal dealers and precious metal refiners listed as separate businesses. Good Luck!
Mark BakerFellow Plater - Syracuse, New York, USA
November 18, 2009
A. You can separate Pt and Pd from scrap. You use aqua regia, dissolve scrap in it, filter this on filter paper, concentrate it up to half quantity, precipitate this solution by 20% ammonium chloride saturated solution for Pt.
Bhupesh Mulikjewellery - Mumbai, Maharastra, India
January 31, 2010
Q. Hi Sir,
I want to know the most suitable method to recover Pd and Au from aqua regia solution. Materials used for this process are e-wastes.thank you
- PENANG, MALAYSIA
April 24, 2016
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Ed. note: Bhupish generously offered an answer. Please try to phrase followups in terms of what has already been posted. Thanks!
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