SUSTAINABLE RECOVERY OF PRECIOUS METALS FROM CHLORIDE SOLUTIONS BY SOLVENT EXTRACTION

Solvent extraction in hydrometallurgical processing is a suitable method for precious metals extraction/separation from chloride solutions and therefore proven to be an alternative to the conventional method of separation. This paper presents results of the removal of palladium(II), gold(III) and platinum(IV) ions from chloride media in the extraction-stripping process using trihexyl(tetradecyl)-phosphonium tetrafluoroborate [3C6C14P]BF4 as the extractant. The efficiency of extractive separation of the examined metals depends on the acidity of the aqueous solution. The stripping from a loaded organic phase provides effective and quality separation of palladium(II), gold(III) and platinum(IV). The extractant studied ([3C6C14P]BF4) can be reused in the next cycles of the extraction-stripping-regeneration process without a significant loss in the extraction power, which is in line with the assumptions of sustainable recycling.