with ammonium chloride and calcined to pure platinum metal. (Brittanica, Platinum Group) The palladium which resided with the platinum in the original ore is recovered in a similar fashion by converting it to salt form, and then altering it to metallic form.Similarly, a second form of recovering platinum is the “simultaneous solubilization” technique. Simultaneous solubilization is achieved by fusing the mineral concentrate gathered from the copper and nickel sulfide ores with aluminum metal. The aluminum is dissolved, and the leftover material is treated with hydrochloric acid and chlorine. This, in turn, dissolves all platinum group metals within the material which are then separated by solvent extraction. (Brittanica, Platinum Group) Individual metal suspensions are then treated by standard techniques to recover the metals in a pure state.Reprocessing procedures to recover platinum group metal scrap is dependent upon the type of metal desired. In the case of platinum itself, the scrap can be redissolved in aqua regia and recovered from solution by previously discussed methods. Most platinum scrap is gathered from automotive catalytic converters. Other popular techniques to recover minerals, such as assaying, are not practical with platinum due to its extremely weak concentration in ore, often less than one part per million. Therefore, most processing of platinum is done with individual or simultaneous solubilization.Structural uses of platinum range from jewelry, to electronics, to cancer therapy; however, most platinum is consumed by the auto industry for use in catalytic converters. Ironically, despite its resistance to most chemical reagents, platinum is an outstanding catalyst that easily accelerates or controls oxidation, reduction, and hydrogenation reaction rates. For this reason, 90 percent of platinum produced in the Western world, and 35 percent worldwide, is employed in the use of automobile catalytic converte...
