ABSTRACT
The demand for precious metals like gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and rhodium is continuing to increase due to high market prices and various industrial applications. Various separation processes for obtaining high-purity metals have been developed from urban-mined liquors. This chapter focuses on the recovery of precious metals from urban mines using solvent extraction. Differences in the chemistry of precious metals and other base metals present in refinery liquors are emphasized and correlated with selective recovery by solvent extraction. The classification of solvent systems according to the reactions involved and the nature of the solute–solvent interaction is also described.
