Recovery of platinum group metals (PGM) from acidic solutions by reduction precipitation with sodium borohydride

• Main Authors: RITEEY; GORDON M, AWADALLA; FAROUK T, MOLNAR; RONALD E
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 19.04.1994
• Edition: 5
• Subjects: CHEMISTRY; CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION ORPROCESSING OF GOODS; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; METALLURGY; PRETREATMENT OF RAW MATERIALS; PRODUCTION AND REFINING OF METALS; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINSTCLIMATE CHANGE; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS

A method is disclosed for the direct recovery of platinum group metals (PGM) from thiourea solutions or highly acidic aqueous solutions in general, such as leach solutions resulting from the acid leaching of precious metal bearing material. The method comprises reduction precipitation of the PGM from solution by alkali metal borohydride (preferably sodium or potassium borohydride) addition thereto at ambient temperature and pressure. The resulting precipitate is readily filtrable to give a product comprising high purity platinum group metal powder. The barren solution can be recycled to the upstream process.