摘要
A detailed characterization of an iron oxy/hydroxide(gossan type) bearing refractory gold/silver ore was performed with a new diagnostic approach for the development of a pretreatment process prior to cyanide leaching. Gold was observed to be present as native and electrum(6-24 μm in size) and associated with limonite, goethite and lepidocrocite within calcite and quartz matrix. Mineral liberation analysis(MLA) showed that electrum is found as free grains and in association with beudantite, limonite/goethite and quartz. Silver was mainly present as acanthite(Ag2S) and electrum and as inclusions within beudantite phase in the ore. The cyanide leaching tests showed that the extractions of gold and silver from the ore(d80: 50 μm) were limited to 76% and 23%, respectively, over a leaching period of 24 h. Diagnostic leaching tests coupled with the detailed mineralogical analysis of the ore suggest that the refractory gold and silver are mainly associated within iron oxide mineral phases such as limonite/goethite and jarosite-beudantite, which can be decomposed in alkaline solutions. Based on these characterizations, alkaline pretreatment of ore in potassium hydroxide solution was performed prior to cyanidation, which improved significantly the extraction of silver and gold up to 87% Ag and 90% Au. These findings suggest that alkaline leaching can be used as a new diagnostic approach to characterize the refractoriness of iron oxy/hydroxide bearing gold/silver ore and as a pretreatment method to overcome the refractoriness.
为了探索在氰化浸出之前进行预处理工艺,采用新诊断方法对含有氧化铁/氢氧化铁(铁帽型)难处理金/银矿进行详细表征。结果表明,金以自然金和银金矿(尺寸为6~24μm)存在,夹杂在方解石和石英基体中的褐铁矿、针铁矿和纤铁矿中。矿物解离度分析(MLA)表明,银金矿以游离颗粒存在,夹杂在砷菱铅矾、褐铁矿/针铁矿和石英中。银主要以硫银矿(Ag2S)和银金矿存在,夹杂在矿石的砷菱铅相里。氰化浸出实验表明,在浸出时间达到24 h后,矿石(d80:50μm)中金和银的浸出率分别只有76%和23%。矿石的诊断浸出实验和详细的矿物分析表明,金和银主要夹杂在氧化铁矿物相中,如褐铁矿/针铁矿和黄钾铁矾型的砷菱铅矾,这些氧化铁矿物能在碱性溶液中分离出来。基于这些研究,在氰化浸出之前将矿石在KOH溶液中进行碱性预处理,能将银和金的浸出率分别提高到87%和90%。这些发现表明碱性浸出能作为一种新的诊断方法用来表征含氧化铁/氢氧化铁的金/银矿处理难度,并且可作为一种预处理方法来提高其浸出率。
基金
Project(8300)supported by the Research Foundation of Karadeniz Technical University,Turkey
