UK company Tetronics is to work with Taiwanese company Solar Applied Materials Technology to investigate whether its plasma technology can be used to extract precious metals.
Gold, silver and platinum will be extracted from electrical waste and industrial catalysts using Tetronics plasma technology in countries across the far east.
The supply of the first plasma plant, for installation into Taiwan, is now underway to recover these materials.
Solar Applied Materials Technology chief operating officer Ma Jianyong said: “We are not simply buying a plasma solution, we are more importantly building on an already strong partnership with Tetronics that will see us leveraging other spent catalyst and related opportunities in Taiwan, China and further afield.
“Tetronics’s support has been essential to the Solar team and will be instrumental in progressing these opportunities going forward. The refining technology is of course important to us, and we are confident that Tetronics’ plasma solution provides higher levels of technical recovery than any competing technology.”
