French 'alchemists' to cash in on turning water into gold

French 'alchemists' to cash in on turning water into gold

Published: 28 October, 2012, 22:17
Edited: 29 October, 2012, 02:53






A Magpie Polymers employee
does research experiments of recovering traces of precious metals (gold,
platinum) contained in industrial process water, mainly from the
electronical recycling industry. (AFP Photo / Mark Preel)

A small company near Paris has pioneered technology which can "turn
water into gold." Other precious metals such as platinum, palladium and
rhodium can also be extracted using the same methods.

Magpie Polymers, based 80 kilometers southeast of Paris, has
developed the technology from a procedure perfected by the prestigious
Swiss Ecole Polytechnique in 2007.
The process uses tiny pellets
of plastic resin though which waste water is pumped. Gold, platinum and
other precious metals gradually stick to the pellets and are in this way
separated from the waste water.
A single liter of this patented
resin can treat five to ten cubic meters of waste water and recover 50
to 100 grams of precious metal, which according to Magpie is equivalent
to 3,000 to 5,000 euro in value.
Dutchman Steve van Zutphen, who
co-founded Magpie Polymers last year with Frenchman Etienne Almoric,
explained to Agence France-Presse, “We leave only a microgram per liter; it’s the equivalent of a sugar lump in an Olympic swimming pool.”
Precious
metals are contained in small amounts in many everyday products, such
as mobile phones and catalytic converters. But once these objects are
scrapped, the problem lies in retrieving the particles of precious
metals.
Once they have been separated and crushed, some industrial
waste products have to be dissolved with acid in water. Then the metals
in the water have to be recovered, regardless of their value.
“What is complicated is the amounts are infinitesimal, so hard to recover,” Van Zupten explained.
“There
are many technologies to get metal from water that have existed since
the nineteenth century. But there comes a moment when existing
technologies are no longer effective, or become too expensive,” he continued.
The entrepreneurs are already looking to the “refining” market – specialists in the recovery of precious metals, like the Anglo-French company Cookson-clal.
But
they are also hoping their technology may be of interest to mining
firms or large water treatment companies such as the French Suez
Environment.
As demand for precious metals increases, combined
with increasing shortages – platinum mines are becoming exhausted and
half the platinum used worldwide is already recycled – prices have
soared. Their timing could not be better.
Magpie’s innovative
technology can also be used to leach out harmful but more common metals
such as lead, cobalt or copper. But as of yet, nobody wants to pay for
metals like these.
However, tougher environmental standards, which
would further tighten the rules for the recovery of waste metal, could
further add strength to Magpie’s business.
The ambitious new
company has just taken on six staff, and hopes for a turnover of nearly a
million euro next year and 15 million more in four years’ time.


Source:-
http://rt.com/news/france-water-turn-gold-437/