Shehab Ahmed Elmasry
Master Thesis – Environmental Engineering – 2018
Platinum is considered one of the rarest metals on earth, however, it is used in a wide range of commodities. This has led to a rough variability in supply and demand, where major industrial countries try to obtain the material to provide for their industrial process. Platinum as a rare-earth metal is produced in a few countries, mainly South Africa and Russia which leaves the material with an uneven mining distribution.
The thesis attempts to draw a dynamic flow of Platinum in Europe by investigating major platinum inputs involving mining and refining, production, trade, EU markets, use, collection, and recycling. In addition, the study uses a material flow analysis approach to illustrate the results and compare it with market surveys and published reports from platinum suppliers in Europe.
To accomplish the objective, platinum concentrations and product codes in all the commodities extracted from various sources like UNCOMTRADE and PRODCOM had to be implemented, and further calculations had to be conducted.
A preliminary Material flow analysis of platinum in Europe is conducted and expected to be taken as a first step into understanding the dynamic flow of the material within future studies. Further discussions on how to present a reliable material flow analysis is considered in the study, which can be used as basis for future researches in the field.
Related Research Projects
Current and future European stocks and flows of platinum relating to the fuel cell development - Marcus Andreas Berr