Invention makes platinum, paladium mining easier

Pitt researchers have developed a new method for faster, easier detection of platinum and… Pitt researchers have developed a new method for faster, easier detection of platinum and palladium deposits in the environment.

Platinum and palladium, two rare precious metals, are highly useful in various fields of science and industry because they are difficult to find. But soon, they will be much easier to locate.

The new detection process, developed in the lab of Kazunori Koide, a chemistry professor at Pitt, is a marked improvement upon the old methods since it not only locates these metals much faster, but does so with less cost and effort than ever before.

Currently, when mining for these precious metals, scientists must send rock samples out for analysis and wait several days for highly trained chemists to complete the long complex process. Using the new process, scientists get results much faster – about an hour – and according to Professor Koide, it’s so much easier that “even untrained people can do it.”

The key component of this method is the colorless fluorescein-based solution that, when viewed under a florescent light, glows green in the presence of platinum and palladium. Even trace amounts of the metals are now easily detectable.

The jewelry industry has always profited from platinum because it is tarnish-resistant and more rare than gold. Palladium is also used for its similar qualities, although it may not be as popular.

Perhaps the most valuable application of these elements is in automobile production. Vital in the production of catalytic converters – devices that diminish the toxicity of internal combustion engine emissions – platinum and palladium are invaluable in the manufacturing process.

The mining application for this new detection method took six months to develop, Koide said. But other uses for this process are already being considered.

Pharmaceutical industries are currently looking into possibly applying this new process to drug development, Koide said. Palladium is important in drug development, but once the drugs are created, it is contaminated since palladium – even in trace amounts – is often toxic.

Having access to this cheaper, faster method of detection will enable pharmaceutical companies to remove the potentially dangerous residual palladium in drug samples and get them out for sale faster.