New insights into the extraction of invisible gold in a low-grade high-sulfur Carlin-type gold concentrate by bio-pretreatment

To extract gold from a low-grade(13.43 g/t) and high-sulfur(39.94wt% sulfide sulfur) Carlin-type gold concentrate from the Nibao deposit, Guizhou, a bio-pretreatment followed by carbon-in-pulp(CIP) cyanide leaching process was used. Various methods were used to detect the low-grade gold in the concentrate; however, only time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry(TOF-SIMS) was successful. With bio-pretreatment, the gold recovery rate increased by approximately 70.16% compared with that obtained by direct cyanide leaching of the concentrate. Various attempts were made to increase the final gold recovery rate. However, approximately 20wt% of the gold was non-extractable. To determine the nature of this non-extractable gold, mineralogy liberation analysis(MLA), formation of secondary product during the bio-pretreatment, and the preg-robbing capacity of the carbonaceous matter in the ore were investigated. The results indicated that at least four factors affected the gold recovery rate: gold occurrence, tight junctions of gold-bearing pyrite with gangue minerals, jarosite coating of the ore, and the carbonaceous matter content.

Mechanism of Mg2+ dissolution from olivine and serpentine: Implication for bioleaching of high-magnesium nickel sulfide ore at elevated pH

To inhibit the dissolution of Mg^2+ during the bioleaching process of high-magnesium nickel sulfide ore, the effect of major bioleaching factors on the dissolution of Mg^2+ from olivine and serpentine was investigated and kinetics studies were carried out. The results indicated that the dissolution rate-controlling steps are chemical reaction for olivine and internal diffusion for serpentine. The most influential factor on the dissolution of Mg^2+ from olivine and serpentine was temperature, followed by p H and particle size. A novel method of bioleaching at elevated pH was used in the bioleaching of Jinchuan ore. The results showed that elevated pH could significantly reduce the dissolution of Mg^2+ and acid consumption along with slightly influencing the leaching efficiencies of nickel and cobalt. A model was used to explain the leaching behaviors of high-magnesium nickel sulfide ore in different bioleaching systems. The model suggested that olivine will be depleted eventually, whereas serpentine will remain because of the difference in the rate-controlling steps. Bioleaching at elevated pH is a suitable method for treating high-magnesium nickel sulfide ores.

Comprehensive recovery of gold and base-metal sulfide minerals from a low-grade refractory ore

The comprehensive recovery of small amounts of valuable minerals such as gold and base-metal sulfide minerals from a low-grade refractory ore was investigated. The following treatment strategy was applied to a sample of this ore： gold flotation-gold concen- trate leaching-lead and zinc flotation from the gold concentrate leaching residue. Closed-circuit trials of gold flotation yielded a gold concen- trate that assayed at 40.23 g·t-1 Au with a recovery of 86.25%. The gold concentrate leaching rate was 98.76%. Two variants of lead-zinc flotation from the residue--preferential flotation of lead and zinc and bulk flotation of lead and zinc--were tested using the middling processing method. Foam from the reflotation was returned to the lead rougher flotation or lead-zinc bulk flotation, whereas middlings from reflotation were discarded. Sulfur concentrate was a byproduct. The combined strategy of flotation, leaching, and flotation is recommended for the treatment of this kind of ore.

Chemical leaching mechanism of chalcopyrite with difference mineralization

This paper presents the effect of mineralization on chalcopyrite chemical leaching in very simple H2SO4 solution systems at pH 1.0, with 5 % chalcopyrite con- centrate at 65 ~C. The copper extractions after 12 days leaching of marine volcanic and porphyry chalcopyrite were 85.7 and 66.6 %, respectively. It was found that sulphur element formed on the surface of two samples as a result of XRD and SEM-EDAX, which was very porous that did not inhibit chemical leaching reaction. Meanwhile, （Cu, Fe）12As4S13 formed on the surface of porphyry type chalcopyrite, which may cause low leaching ratio of por- phyry type chalcopyrite as passivation. （Cu, Fe）12As4S13 may be one kind of the polysulphide compounds.

Research progress in biohydrometallurgy of rare metals and heavy nonferrous metals with an emphasis on China

In the past decade, progress in the field of biohydrometallurgy had been significant. A total of 17 novel biomining microorganisms were discovered, and eight copper heap bioleaching plants and 11 gold biooxidation plants were established or expanded. In this review, it was summarized the physiological properties of the newly isolated biomining microorganisms and three novel microbial ecological methods for studying microbial community dynamics and structure. In addition, biohy- drometallurgy research on rare metals such as uranium, molybdenum, tellurium, germanium, indium, and sec- ondary rare metal resources, as well as heavy nonferrous metals such as copper, nickel, cobalt, and gold has been reviewed, with an emphasis on China. In future, further studies on bioleaching of chalcopyrite, rare metals, secondary resources from waste, and environmental pollution caused by resource utilization are necessary.

Control of redox potential by oxygen limitation in selective bioleaching of chalcocite and pyrite

Based on the bioleaching mechanism and electrochemical studies of metal sulfides, the dissolution rates of chalcocite and pyrite are controlled by redox potentials. Experiment on the bioleaching of chalcocite and pyrite under constant redox potential by sparging with nitrogen gas was demonstrated. By leaching at low and constant redox potential（〈760 mV, vs SHE）, copper recoveries of 90 %–98 % are achieved, which are 10 times more than iron recoveries. The iron-oxidizing bacterial populations are observed to continue to reduce under oxygen limitation conditions, but the Acidithiobacillus that have only sulfur-oxidizing capabilities are an attractive alternative for redox-controlled bioleaching of chalcocite.Thus, the described redox control technique might be one of the effective approaches to balance acid and iron in Zijinshan copper bio-heap leaching practice.

Extraction of niobium, yttrium, and cerium from a low-grade niobium-bearing ore by roasting(NH_4)_2SO_4-Na_2SO_4-H_2SO_4 system

A novel process of extracting niobium, yttrium,and cerium from a low-grade niobium-bearing ore by the roasting（NH4）2SO4-Na2SO4-H2SO4 system was experimentally studied. The influences of various factors,such as roasting temperature, roasting time, mass ratio of agents-to-ore and particle size fraction on the extraction of valuable metals were comprehensively investigated. It is found that the roasting Na2SO4-H2SO4 system is effective to extract the niobium, yttrium, and cerium. The obtained optimum conditions for the extraction of Nb, Y, and Ce are roasting temperature of 300 °C, roasting time of 3 h, mass ratio of Na2SO4：H2SO4：Ore of 0.5：1.0：1.0, and particle size fraction of-74 lm（~95 %）. Under the optimum condition, the maximum recovery of Nb, Y, and Ce can reach90.53 %, 92.15 %, and 98.04 %, respectively. All the results generated from this study will provide the fundamentals for Nb, Y, and Ce extraction from a niobiumbearing ore with low-grade.

Sulfuric acid leaching of low-grade refractory tantalum–niobium and associated rare earths minerals in Panxi area of China

By mineral liberation analyzer （MLA） automated quantitative system, the niobium-tantalum ore in this study was classified as refractory mineral of low-grade which was mainly composed of fergusonite, polycrase, ilmenorutile, and bastnasite. Most of niobium and rare earth metals were dis- seminated in these minerals （particle sizes of 95 % rare earth elements 〈40 μm）, which cannot be concentrated through traditional floatation process and treated by the current hydrofluoric acid leaching in industry application. It is nec- essary to develop a new approach to recovery these valuable metals. In this study, an improved method is proposed to extract these metals, which includes acid roasting and sulfuric acid leaching. The influence of mineralogy, acid concentra- tion, leaching temperature, leaching time, and liquid to solid ratio was experimentally studied. It is observed that after the ground ore （-74 μm） was roasted at 350 ℃ for 2 h with sulfuric acid （18.4 mol.L- 1） in the ore to acid mass ratio of 1：1, and then the roasting residue reacted with 25 % sulfuric acid at 90 ℃ for 2 h, the recovery rate of rare earth elements reaches 〉90 %, and the leaching extent of niobium can reach 84 %.

Mechanism of aluminum complexation in oxidative activity of leaching bacteria in a fluoride-containing bioleaching system

Accumulation of toxic ions in leachate is one factor limiting bioleaching applications. The effect of fluoride ions on the growth of bioleaching microorganisms has been extensively emphasized. In this study, HF is found to be the toxic form of fluoride that affects the bacterial activity under acidic conditions. The added aluminum could compete with H^+ to complex with F-, thus significantly decrease the concentration of HF and finally reduce the toxicity of fluoride to bacteria. When F^-/Al^(3+)concentration ratio is 0.5:1.0, Fe^(2+) oxidation rate could reach 0.167 g·L^(-1)·h^(-1), close to that of the biotic control group(0.195 g·L^(-1)·h^(-1)). The competitive complexation mechanism of fluoride by AlF_n^(3-n) results in stability constants of AlF_n^(3-n) complex(7.00) that are larger than those of HF(3.18). The F^-/Al^(3+) concentration ratio in the medium could affect the speciation of AlF_n^(3-n) complex.With the decrease in F^-/Al^(3+) concentration ratio, the coordination numbers of AlF_n^(3-n) decrease. Finally, the feasibility of fluoride detoxification by aluminum ion is verified. This work has meaningful implications for fluoride-containing bacterial bioleaching systems.

Magnesium-rich gangue dissolution in column bioleaching of chalcopyrite

This study is to assess the effect of magnesiumrich gangue dissolution on the ore containing chalcopyrite and carrollite from Democratic Republic of the Congo （DRC）. The ore contains 11.0 wt% magnesium and 2.4 wt% copper. When Mg^2＋ concentration is over 20 g·L^-1 after 2 months in column bioleaching, the redox potential of leachate keeps stable, much less than that when Mg2＋ concentration is below 20 g·L^-1. Meanwhile, the extractions of Cu^2＋ and Co^2＋ from chalcopyrite with carrollite obviously inhibited by Mg^2＋ concentration of over 20 g·L^-1 were investigated. The extraction of cobalt depends on chalcopyrite dissolved in column reactor. The growth and oxidation activity of bacteria are affected by high Mg^2＋ concentration （〉20 g·L^-1） in leachate of column reactor. As the rate of gangue dissolution depends on the amount of sulfuric acid, the decrease of the particle size relates to the increase of the total particle surface area and acid consumption. Therefore, the operation of pre-leaching for magnesium removal is not the most effective and economical way to solve the problem of magnesium-rich gangue minerals dissolution.

A novel approach to extract Nb,Y and Ce from a niobium-bearing ore of low grade by roasting KHSO_(4)-H_(2)SO_(4) system

In this work,a novel approach of leaching valuable metals,such as niobium,yttrium and cerium,from a niobium-bearing ore of low grade by roasting KHSO_(4)-H_(2)SO_(4)system was experimentally studied.Through the work,the effects of roasting temperature,roasting time,mass ratio of agents to ore and the types of leaching agents on the extraction of Nb,Y and Ce were investigated,and the roasting KHSO_(4)-H_(2)SO_(4)-ore system was thought as an effective method to extract these valuable metals.It was found that the recovery of Nb,Y and Ce can,respectively,reach 90.20%,97.22%and 98.41%in condition of roasting temperature of 300℃,roasting time of 2 h,mass ratio of KHSO_(4)-to-H_(2)SO_(4)to ore of 0.5:1:1,particle size of-74 lm(~95%),leaching solution of oxalic acid(30 g·L^(-1)),leaching temperature of 90℃and leaching liquid-to-solid ratio of 5:1.The leaching kinetics of the calcined Nb-bearing ore in oxalic acid solution was successfully modeled by chemical reaction model,and the apparent activity energy was obtained to be14.16 kJ·mol^(-1).The results generated from this work will provide the fundamentals for extracting Nb,Y and Ce from a niobium-bearing ore of low grade and have potential applications value in future.