Papers by Keyword: Cyanidation

Abstract: This paper details the hydrometallurgical method of processing of refractory gold antimony flotation concentrate. Investigation of feed material has been occurred. Mineralogical analyses (XRD, SEM-EDS) and chemical analyses of the concentrate have been studied. Mainly, the material consists of compounds of antimony, silicon, calcium, sulfur and iron. The main phases are quartz, stibnite, calcium carbonate and ankerite, pyrite and arsenopyrite have been found as well. The feature of antimonite’s dissolving in alkaline solutions has been reviewed. The dependences of effects of the temperature, time, L/S ratio and NaOH concentration on the antimony and sulfur extraction from the feed flotation concentrate have been determined. During alkaline sulphide leaching of the starting material several physicochemical characteristics of gold dissolution have been identified. Agitated cyanide gold leaching test of the pre-treated cake was conducted. Gold recovery was 32.2%. The obtained low indexes of gold recovery are based on cyanidation. A nitric acid leaching of disantimonied cake was proposed.

Abstract: The present work relates to hydrometallurgy, in particular, to gold-bearing clay ores leaching processes. The initial and agglomerated material filterability was studied. Filterability varies in different agglomeration conditions. Influence of cement, lignosulfonate, plastizer (Cemmix CemPlast), lime consumption was investigated. The negative effect of organic reagents additives, such as plasticizer (Cemmix CemPlast) and lignosulfonate, on the filtration process was established. Colmatation of agglomerated ore minimizes at CaO and Ca (OH)2 using as a modifier of the system, also phase separation in the percolation regime and under pressure proceeds without difficulty. Lime and cement joint use in the optimum proportion at clay ore agglomeration under the studied conditions reduces the filtration duration from a few hours to 2-5 minutes.

Abstract: The ability of an iron-sulfur-oxidizing mixotrophic bacterium to treat two types of sulfide-rich carbonaceous refractory gold concentrates from Sulawesi and Sumatra in Indonesia was studied in comparison with an acidophilic chemolithotrophic bacterium Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. Over the course of the biooxidation experiments, the pH of the solution tended to rise (pH>5) due to the high content of acid-consuming minerals such as carbonates in both concentrates. Ferric ions were frequently observed to precipitate due to high solution pH. The BIOX^skc employed in this study was able to increase the gold extraction from low sulfidic carbonaceous refractory gold concentrates by ~15% higher than that by using At. ferrooxidans. It was also capable of treating carbonaceous matters which causes preg-robbing effect and retaining iron in ionic form due presumably to the production of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) under high solution pH. Nevertheless, BIOX^skc also reduced the gold extraction yield of high sulfidic gold concentrates because of passivation effect. It is suggested that the precipitation of iron and sulfur on the surface of sulfide minerals during biooxidation may prevent cyanide ion contact with gold.

Abstract: Refractory gold ore understudied showed traces amount of gold from X-ray fluorescence analysis. Phases identified are quartz, muscovite and calcite. Statistical approach using response surface methodology - central composite design were performed at varying concentration of NaCN, Pb (NO₃)₂ and H₂O₂. Cyanidation experiments were conducted at room temperature at pH 11. Using the response surface methodology followed by path of steepest ascent, gold cyanidation was found to be at 467.3 ppm NaCN, 94.96 ppm Pb (NO₃)₂ and 0.01M H₂O₂, at the vicinity towards the optimum condition where 88.97% Au extracted from the ore, equivalent to 1.7231 g/t Au.

Abstract: The fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium has been proven to biotransform refractory gold ores, leading to increase in gold recovery. This transformation has been attributed to enzymes secreted by the microbe. This paper reports the findings of preliminary investigations aimed at assessing the use of hydrogen peroxide and cell-free extracts from the fungus, P. chrysosporium, to effect biotransformation of sulphidic refractory gold ores. The investigations show that the total dissolved arsenic, iron and sulphur in solution were up to 5.2 wt%, 0.9 wt% and 6.0 wt% respectively from flotation concentrate after 72 hrs of treatment. Analysis for sulphide sulphur in the residual solids of the gold concentrate indicated about 25 wt% oxidation within 24 hours of treatment. In general, cell-free decomposition of the samples did not increase beyond 24 hours of contact time, possibly due to exhaustion of the active components. Gold extraction by cyanidation increased by 24% after 24-hr treatment with the cell-free extracts. Comparatively, cell-free (in vitro) treatment recorded 66% overall gold recovery as against 61% for whole cell (in vivo) after 72 hours of treatment. These initial results indicate clearly that in vitro processing is a promising alternative to in vivo processing of refractory gold ores using P. chrysosporium.

Abstract: The mining districts located in the western mountain range in the south of Ecuador have gold minerals with refractory characteristics, which do not allow gold recovery by traditional methods used in Ecuador. Therefore, it is necessary to apply some technology that permits to obtain greater metal recovery. Bio-oxidation, as treatment of refractory ores that contain low grade of gold, offers an economic and sustainable alternative for this purpose. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of particle size, pulp density and concentration of inoculum and inducer (Fe⁺²) on the bio-oxidation of refractory gold minerals in order to maximize gold recovery of the bioleached minerals by means of a cyanidation process. The microbial consortium used in this work was collected and isolated from the Portovelo mining district corresponding mostly to Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Leptospirillum ferrooxidans species. The Eh, final concentration of ferric ion, total iron and sulfates were measured. Finally, the bio-oxidized material was tested using cyanidation to determine the gold recovery. The results after the cyanidation tests showed that the highest gold recovery was obtained when the bio-oxidation step was conducted with 68-91 µm particle size, 15% pulp density, 20% v/v inoculum and 2 g/L of Fe²⁺ as inducer. At those conditions, gold recovery was 68% compared to 26% obtained when no bio-oxidation step was performed, demonstrating that this process was favorable compared with traditional gold recovery processes

Abstract: Low-grade, finely disseminated refractory sulfide gold ores associated with high arsenic are ubiquitous resources all over the world. Since heap bio-oxidation is an economic and promising biotechnology to recover gold, low grade, high organic carbon and arsenic bearing gold ores from Zhesang Mines in China were chosen for this purpose to study the key factors that would affect biooxidation. Pyrite and arsenopyrite (particle size 0.002-0.22 mm) were the main minerals from Mineral Liberation Analysis (MLA). Column biooxidation and cyanidation of mineral size < 10 mm were evaluated for its potential for gold extraction. Results showed that temperature was the main factor influencing sulfide oxidation. 58-67 % of sulfide was oxidized at 35-45°C after > 240 days of biooxidation with mixed mesophiles, while higher sulfide-S dissolution (77%) was obtained at 60°C. Sulfide-S fraction distribution revealed higher mineral decomposition, finer fractions and eventually higher sulfide oxidation at 60°C. Jarosite and scorodite were found from the residues at 60°C by SEM and EDX, which implies higher temperature accelerated arsenic precipitation. No elemental sulfur was detected during the biooxidation at 35-60°C. After bio-oxidation, column cyanidation was successfully demonstrated recovery of gold from the residues, with gold extraction rate reaching 66%.

Abstract: The acid mine drainage (AMD) generating sulfidic tailings have a total mass of 1,639,130 t containing 1.65 g/t Au, 34.5 g/t Ag, 7.74 % Fe, 5.91 % S, 3.2 % As, 0.75 % Zn and 0.05 % Cu. The precious metals Au and Ag are enriched in the fine fractions. Approximately 35 % of the material is below 25 /m in size and 53 % below 63 /m. Electron microprobe analysis of a sulfide concentrate of the tailings, produced by gravity separation, proved the occurrence of pyrite and arsenopyrite with appreciable sphalerite and galena. Refractory gold (up to 316 g/t) is hosted in Asrich zones of some arsenopyrites. Approximately 200 g of the sulfide concentrate of the tailings was biooxidized in laboratory shake flasks using an adapted mixed culture of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (Ram 6F), Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans (Ram 8T) and Leptospirillum ferrooxidans (R3). During biooxidation, arsenopyrite was preferentially dissolved and the secondary mineral tooeleite (Fe8(AsO4)6(OH)5·H2O) precipitated. The following cyanidation of the biooxidized sulfide concentrate showed a recovery of 97 % and 50 % for Au and Ag, respectively. The values were 56 % and 18 % for the untreated concentrate. The recovery of Au and Ag from the tailings significantly reduces the costs for the tailings remediation to mitigate AMD release.