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  1. Home
  2. What We Do
  3. Precious Metals

Precious Metals

Anodic sludge produced at our refinery contains metals such as gold, silver, palladium or platinum, which, like copper, play a crucial role in the energy transition, digitalization and sustainable mobility.

These metals, once processed in our customers’ precious metals plants, can be used as an end product and integrated into other production processes. Their singular characteristics make them essential for many technological applications, such as printed circuit boards, catalysts or television screens.

The anodic sludge obtained is marketed in drums on pallets and sold to specialized refineries, mainly in Asia.

Technical specifications

Typical Chemical Composition Range Normal
Au 0.3 – 1.3% 0.5%
Ag 6.0 – 13.0% 8.5%
Pt 4.0 – 22.0g/t 10.0g/dmt
Pd 39.0 – 144.0g/t 60.0g/dmt
Cu 5.0 – 12.0% 6.0%
As 0.69 – 2.2% 1.16%
Sb 0.6 – 1.83% 0.95%
Se 8.0 – 15.0% 12.0%
Te 0.4 – 1.2% 0.7%
Pb 8.0 – 23.0% 11.5%
Bi 0.3 – 0.8% 0.5%
Ni 0.08 – 0.5% 0.18%

Gold

No other metal has caught the world’s eye as much as gold. Throughout history, it has been considered a metal of great monetary and cultural value.

Its usefulness lies in a variety of special properties. It is an easy metal to work with. As it is very malleable, it can be stretched into wire, hammered into thin sheets, melted into very detailed shapes. And its color and shine are highly appreciated and used mainly in jewelry (49% of world demand).

Gold benefits from various sources of demand: as an investment, a reserve asset, a luxury item and a technological component. It is such a scarce metal that in the whole of human history only 200,000 tons have been extracted.

More information at www.gold.org

El oro se beneficia de diversas fuentes de demanda: como inversión, activo de reserva, bien de lujo y componente tecnológico.
También en monedas, ornamentación y lingotes de oro.

Uses of gold

In jewelry or in electronics, as it is a magnificent electric conductor used in computers, circuits, appliances or cell phones. Also in coins, decoration and gold ingots.

In the health field, outstanding applications include its use in alloys for surgical instruments, as well as its use in dentistry. And in medicine it is used in particles and in small doses to treat some diseases.

Uses of gold

Silver

Silver’s characteristics make it an exceptional metal in the jewelry sector because of its malleability and ductility. It is an excellent electrical conductor, permitting its use in electronic components such as cables, switches and printed circuit boards.

The combination of ductility and electrical conductivity makes it ideal for microelectronic devices such as smart phones, where it can be folded and compacted in small spaces without breaking.

Silver has been appreciated for centuries as an investment and a way to store wealth and has been used as a means of exchange in the same way as gold.

More information at www.silverinstitute.org

Las características de la plata hacen que sea un metal excepcional en el sector de la joyería por su maleabilidad y ductilidad.
Electrodomésticos, monedas, móviles y ordenadores.

Uses of silver

Silver is a precious metal whose main use is industrial due to its excellent conductivity properties, with its use in the technological components of solar panels, electric cars, appliances, mobile phones, etc. being particularly notable.

In the health sector, it is used in the field of nanomaterials. And as adornment material it is used in jewelry, trophies and coins, among others.

Palladium

Palladium is a metal highly appreciated for its physico-chemical properties. Due to its scarcity and the high demand, its price has increased in recent years and today it is one of the most expensive precious metals. Its silver color and its scarcity have meant that palladium has been considered a precious metal since ancient times. However, what makes it so highly appreciated, beyond its appearance, are its magnificent properties for use in industry, especially in the use of automotive catalysts (over 80%).

El paladio es un metal muy apreciado por sus propiedades fisicoquímicas.
Sus propiedades fisicoquímicas lo hacen idóneo para ser utilizado en los catalizadores de los coches de gasolina y diésel.

Uses of palladium

Its physico-chemical properties make it ideal for use in the catalysts of gasoline and diesel cars. Also in capacitors and other electronic device components. Additionally, it is used in jewelry, dentistry, watchmaking, blood glucose test strips, aircraft spark plugs and surgical instrument production.

“Our copper smelter has the capacity to produce about 1,000 tons of electrolytic slimes per year with a high content of metals such as gold or silver"

Platinum

Platinum is the same as silver or palladium, in the sense that it is both a precious metal that can be used as an investment and an industrial metal, with multiple applications in various sectors. It stands out from the rest of known metals for its hardness, its very high melting point and its resistance to corrosion and chemical reactions. It is estimated that platinum is involved in the manufacture of one in five objects leaving factories each day.
Platinum is one of the rarest metals and is found in very low concentrations in the Earth’s crust.

More information at www.platinuminvestment.com

Al platino le sucede lo mismo que a la plata o al paladio, ya que ostenta la doble condición de metal precioso, susceptible de convertirse en inversión; y de metal industrial, con múltiples aplicaciones en diversos sectores.
Sus propiedades fisicoquímicas lo hacen idóneo para ser utilizado en los catalizadores de los coches de gasolina y diésel.

Uses of platinum

It is used as a catalyst in the fertilizer sector, or for the production of anticancer drugs, fiberglass or oven thermocouples. These are the industries that use the most platinum: automotive, chemical, electricity and electronics, glass manufacturing, jewelry, and the medical and biomedical industries.

2023 in figures

939 t

Production of electrolytic slimes

85 t

Silver produced

4 t

Gold produced