PROCESS FOR THE RECOVERY OF PLATINUM FROM SPENT PLATINUM-CONTAINING SOLID RESIDUES

It relates to a process for the recovery of a platinum group metal (PGM) material comprising platinum from a waste material which comprises a spent solid residue containing platinum and optionally palladium, which comprises the steps of: a) subjecting the material to a leaching step in the presence of a suitable leaching agent, an oxidizing agent, and an acidic medium; b) when the weight ratio of palladium and platinum in the leachate obtained in the previous step is lower than about 1.1:1, adding palladium to the leachate until such ratio is equal to or higher than about 1.1:1; and c) subjecting the leachate comprising platinum and palladium to a reducing step to precipitate a platinum group metal (PGM) material comprising platinum in metallic form from the leachate. It also relates to the use of palladium for the recovery of platinum from a leachate comprises platinum and palladium in a weight ratio equal to or higher than about 1.1:1.