ABSTRACT

Platinum group elements have become imperative to many modern industrial applications (automobiles, jewelry, pharmaceuticals, electronics, fuel cells, etc.) but are mined in only a few places. Characterization followed by beneficiation and extraction of these elements has many challenges for the applied mineralogist and mineral engineers due to its ultratrace concentration (2–4 ppm), small grain size (1–50 µm), and multiple associations (sulfides, tellurides, arsenides, antimonides, chromites, silicates, etc.). The important platinum minerals identified in different areas are sperrylite, sudburyite, braggite, hollingworthite, cooperite, laurite, geversite, kotulskite, michenerite, etc. This review critically discusses and gives an update on the classification and mineralogy of platinum group element ores around the world and also assesses the beneficiation practices and developed process flowsheets for recovery of platinum group element values. The extraction process routes to recover high purity of platinum group elements are also reviewed. The classification briefly describes the different types of ore deposits. The mineralogical analysis gives a general idea about the distribution and behavior of the platinum group element ores; also it helps to choose the beneficiation techniques. A brief summary of the different beneficiation and extraction techniques practiced at different places are discussed in detail. Flotation and enhanced gravity separation techniques used in some of the major platinum group metal producing plants for recovery of the platinum group of elements are also highlighted and conclusions are presented.

摘要

铂族元素已成为许多现代工业应用（汽车、珠宝、制药、电子、燃料电池等）必不可少的元素，但仅在少数地方开采。由于这些元素的超痕量浓度 (2-4 ppm)、小晶粒尺寸 (1-50 µm) 和多种缔合物（硫化物、碲化物、砷化物），对这些元素进行选矿和提取之后的表征对应用矿物学家和矿物工程师来说具有许多挑战、锑化物、铬铁矿、硅酸盐等）。不同地区已查明的重要铂矿物有闪锌矿、苏伯利岩、布方石、霍林沃石、铜钴矿、月桂石、辉绿岩、kotulskite、michenerite等。本综述批判性地讨论并提供了世界各地铂族元素矿石分类和矿物学的最新信息，还评估了选矿实践和开发的铂族元素价值回收工艺流程。还综述了回收高纯度铂族元素的提取工艺路线。该分类简要描述了不同类型的矿床。矿物学分析给出了关于铂族元素矿石的分布和行为的一般概念；它还有助于选择选矿技术。详细讨论了不同地方采用的不同选矿和提取技术的简要概述。