Customer case: Argor-Heraeus

Argor-Heraeus
Mendrisio CH

70 years of refining and transforming precious metals

Main products: Gold and silver. Also platinum and palladium

Part of Heraeus Precious Metals group, Hanau DE

Argor-Heraeus and Elmery collaboration success story: Cost-efficient, reliable, sustainable and safe industrial recovery of platinum

Precious metal refineries are challenged by the recovery of the valuable metals, especially when targeting a maximum recovery rate. High price and limited supply of precious metals in addition to the intensive energy consumption for their extraction makes every recovered gram even more attractive. To ensure economical and environmental feasibility, Elmery provides a cost efficient, reliable, sustainable and safe way of recovering metals with a patented and state-of-the-art electrodeposition technology.

Elmery’s technology boosts efficient and sustainable recovery

On the journey of implementing the latest innovation in practice, Elmery has found a perfect partner, Argor-Heraeus in Switzerland.

While Argor-Heraeus offers the best possible quality, cost efficiency and throughput time in their Precious metals (Au, Ag, Pt and Pd) refining, they are also strongly committed to continuous development and improvements in sustainability. They have been searching for new ways to recover the highest possible quantities of platinum from the spent refining solution in their path towards the highest recovery levels and the most sustainable operations. Argor-Heraeus found Elmery’s technology a great fit for cost efficient, reliable, sustainable and safe metal recovery. “With Elmery’s technology, we are able to easily and constantly recover the platinum below the target levels. We really like Elmery’s laboratory-pilot-service three stage development approach, as it helps to understand the benefits of the technology in practice and shorten the time and cost”, comments Simone Frigerio, Argor-Heraeus’ Technical Director.

“With Elmery’s technology, we are able to easily and constantly recover the platinum below the target levels.”

Improved safety by optimizing recovery

While Elmery team works independently and is not wasting time of the busy customer experts, open and continuous communication ensures that there is common understanding of priorities and next steps all the time.

While the planned trace metal recovery targets were reached from the waste solution, it was learned together that earlier steps could also be replaced with Elmery. The technology works very well for various concentrations and starting from higher PGMs concentration may even speed up the recovery and reduce the power consumption.

Recovered precious metals provide clear financial benefits, but Argor-Heraeus values also improved safety conditions while reducing the usage of dangerous, strong chemical reductants. This also helps to reduce CO₂ footprint looking at SCOPE3.

“Argor-Heraeus considers the first installation of Elmery’s innovative technology as a great start and eye-opener for precious metal refining.”

Argor-Heraeus considers the first installation of Elmery’s innovative technology as a great start and eye-opener for precious metal refining. Based on the fruitful and inspiring collaboration, Argor-Heraeus and Elmery continue exploring other potential applications and setting new examples of improving cost-efficiency and sustainability with the most advanced technologies.

Laboratory test project (50 mL batches)

Elmery team performed a set of experiments specifically tailored for the solution provided by the customer (20 L in total) in Elmery’s laboratory in Finland. The customer received platinum recovery rate and deposit composition analysis of carefully repeated experiments as well as other estimated key figures regarding production installation. At this point, it was an easy decision to move into the next stage.

Onsite bench pilot project (100 L batches)

Elmery team performed autonomously the technology scale-up with portable equipment at Argor-Heraeus’ premises in Switzerland. Recovery rate, deposit composition, treatment time, energy consumption, production equipment size and other relevant information for a business case were verified on a larger scale, which provided a strong basis to move to the industrial implementation. The first 100 L of solution was processed in the 20 L pilot system, after which the setup was scaled to a 250 L cell, through which 300 L of solution was circulated.

Production installation and Elmery service (1200 L batches)

Commissioning was supported by Elmery service team and currently Argor-Heraeus operators treat two batches of spent refining solution per day. Elmery technology has shown continuous success and it performs as indicated during the lab and pilot scale stages reaching the ambitious platinum recovery targets. Recovery is maximized with very low power consumption (4 kWh/kg of Pt). Furthermore, Elmery’s service enables continuous high-quality operation and further optimization of the process.