Article:

Mass Spectrometry Provides New Ways To Extract Platinum Metals

Posted 4/17/2013

Trace analysis with the SPECTRO MS ICP mass spectrometer improves profitability and sustainability Presents at IMCET (23rd International Mining Congress and Exhibition of Turkey) from April 16 to 19, 2013 Kleve, April 2013 — The natural occurrence of platinum group metals, ruthenium, rhodium, and palladium as well as osmium, iridium and platinum, is very rare; making them extremely valuable.  Even a tiny difference in the already very-low platinum metal concentrations in a raw material can determine whether or not extraction is worthwhile. This is true for all forms of production, be it mining for metal ores, as a byproduct during nickel refining, recycling of electronic scrap or material recovery in spoil piles leftover from earlier platinum ore mining. The SPECTRO MS inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) can establish the contents of platinum metals with a high precision and sensitivity. Even determination in the range of a few micrograms per...