If you are not sure, ask a refiner

Originally Posted by BarrenRealms007

What are the other metals that are encapsulating the PM's?

Barren, I would think that the precious metals would have to be exposed in order to work as a catalyst, if the precious metals are encapsulated the catalyst has been poisoned such as what happens when a farmer burns marked fuel in his vehicles.

As we all know in order for a catalyst to work the precious metals must make contact with what ever is passing through in order to make the changes. Does not sound like a serious problem to me.

I still would like to hear what process was used to attempt recovery of the precious metals. We have the makings of a conversation I would enjoy getting into.

Maybe he has a zeolite catalyst http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeolite

Petrochemical industry
Synthetic zeolites are widely used as catalysts in the petrochemical industry, for instance in fluid catalytic cracking and hydrocracking. Zeolites confine molecules in small spaces, which causes changes in their structure and reactivity. The hydrogen form of zeolites (prepared by ion-exchange) are powerful solid-state acids, and can facilitate a host of acid-catalyzed reactions, such as isomerisation, alkylation, and cracking. The specific activation modality of most zeolitic catalysts used in petrochemical applications involves quantum-chemical Lewis acid site reactions.^{[citation needed]}
Catalytic cracking uses reactor and a regenerator. Feed is injected onto hot, fluidized catalyst where large gasoil molecules are broken into smaller gasoline molecules and olefins. The vapor-phase products are separated from the catalyst and distilled into various products. The catalyst is circulated to a regenerator where air is used to burn coke off the surface of the catalyst that was formed as a byproduct in the cracking process. The hot regenerated catalyst is then circulated back to the reactor to complete its cycle.




Or a Silver Catalyst http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver

Silver's catalytic properties make it ideal for use as a catalyst in oxidation reactions, for example, the production of formaldehyde from methanol and air by means of silver screens or crystallites containing a minimum 99.95 weight-percent silver. Silver (upon some suitable support) is probably the only catalyst available today to convert ethylene to ethylene oxide (later hydrolyzed to ethylene glycol, used for making polyesters)— an important industrial reaction. It is also used in the Oddy test to detect reduced sulfur compounds and carbonyl sulfides.

Because silver readily absorbs free neutrons, it is commonly used to make control rods to regulate the fission chain reaction in pressurized water nuclear reactors, generally in the form of an alloy containing 80% silver, 15% indium, and 5% cadmium.