Applicability of Gravity Separation Method on the Ashashire Gold Ore Deposit from Benishangul Gumuz Region, Western Ethiopia

The study was conducted to determine the applicability of gravity separation method on the Ashashire gold ore deposit Benishangul gumuz region, western Ethiopia. The Ashashire composite was produced to provide sufficient mass for this study and experiment, including sample preparation, mineralogical analysis of gold and associated elements, gravity concentration, and data interpretation and analysis. During the study, a grind optimization was conducted on the composites sample with varying grind size to evaluate the effect of grind size on gold recovery. The ore was moderately ground to the standard grind size of 80%, passing 106 µm, 75 µm, 53 µm and this nominal size was selected for the preliminary assessment for concentration optimization for this deposit. The gravity testing comprised three-stage concentration using Knelson concentrator. High recovery of gold from the gravity concentrates was achieved from the second gravity concentration. Based on the laboratory experimental result analysis, a grind size of P80 75 µm is selected as optimal size for the Ashashire gold deposit. Increasing the grind size from P80 of 75 µm to 106 µm decreases the recovery rate from 75% to 54%, or decreasing the grind size from P80 of 75 µm to 53 µm decreases the gold recovery rate to 37%. The native gold grain in the ores is mostly associated with quartz and fine gold is closely associated with pyrite. According to analysis of the fire assay, chemical, and mineralogical data, only gold and telluride is commercially valuable elements in the ores. Predominantly gold was occurred in the native form of Au-Te. The sample subjected to gravity separation assayed about 2.6 g/t Au.

Novel two-step process to improve efficiency of bio-oxidation of Axi high-sulfur refractory gold concentrates

In order to improve the bio-oxidation efficiency of Axi refractory gold concentrate, a two-step process including a high temperature chemical oxidation and a subsequent bio-oxidation, combined with p H control during the bio-oxidation step was used. The results revealed that the optimum mode was to maintain solution p H at 1.0-1.2 during the biological oxidation stage. Under this condition, the activity of mixed culture could be sustained and the formation of jarosite could be diminished, thus the oxidation efficiency was improved. The oxidation levels of iron and sulfur were improved by 12.50% and 15.49%, and the gold recovery was increased by 21.02%. Therefore, the two-step process combined with p H control is an effective method for oxidizing the biohydrometallurgical process of Axi gold concentrate, and it will have a broad prospect of application in dealing with complex refractory gold concentrate.

Prediction of pre-oxidation efficiency of refractory gold concentrate by ozone in ferric sulfate solution using artificial neural networks

An artificial neural network model was developed to predict the oxidation of refractory gold concentrate （RGC） by ozone and ferric ions. The concentration of ozone and ferric ions, pulp density, oxygen amount, leaching time and temperature were employed as inputs to the network; the output of the network was the percentage of the ferric extraction iron from RGC. The multilayered feed-forward networks were trained by 33 sets of input-output patterns using a back propagation algorithm; a three-layer network with 8 neurons in the hidden layer gave optimal results. The model gave good predictions of high correlation coefficient （R2=0.966）. The predictions by ANN are more accurate when compared with conventional multivariate regression analysis （MVRA）. In addition, calculation with ANN model indicates that temperature is the predominant parameter and ozone concentration is the lesser influential parameter in the pre-oxidation process of refractory gold ore. The ANN neural network model accurately estimates the ferric extraction during pretreatment process of RGC in gold smelter plants and can be used to optimize the process parameters.

Pretreatment and thiosulfate leaching of refractory gold-bearing arsenosulfide concentrates

A hydrometallurgical process for refractory gold-bearing arsenosulfide concentrates at ambient temperature and pressure was presented, including fine grinding with intensified alkali-leaching （FGIAL）, enhanced agitation alkali-leaching （EAAL）, thiosulfate leaching and displacement. Experimental results on a refractory gold concentrate showed that the total consumption of NaOH in alkaline leaching is only 41% of those theoretically calculated under the conditions of full oxidization for the same amount of arse- nides and sulfides transformed into arsenates and sulfates, and 72.3% of gold is synchro-dissoluted by thiosulfate self-generated during alkaline leaching. After alkaline leaching, thiosulfate leaching was carried out for 24 h. The dissolution of gold is increased to 91.9% from 4.6% by cyanide without the pretreatment. The displacement of gold by zinc powder in the solution gets to 99.2%. Due to an amount of thiosulfate self-generated during alkaline leaching, the reagent addition in thiosulfate leaching afterwards is lower than the normal.

Biooxidation-thiosulfate leaching of refractory gold concentrate

A process of biooxidation followed by thiosulfate leaching of gold from refractory gold concentrate was investigated.Mineralogical studies on the concentrate showed that very fine gold grains(<10μm)were encapsulated in pyrite and arsenopyrite,while the proportion of monomer gold was only 21%.The gold-bearing sample was identified as a high-sulfur fine-sized wrapped-type refractory gold concentrate.The gold leaching efficiency obtained by direct cyanidation was only 59.86%.After biooxidation pretreatment,the sulfide minerals were almost completely decomposed,92 wt%of the mineral particles of the biooxidation residue were decreased to<38μm,and the proportion of monomer gold in the biooxidation residue was over 86%.Meanwhile,the gold content in the biooxidation residue was enriched to 55.60 g/t,and the S,Fe,and As contents were reduced to approximately 19.8 wt%,6.97 wt%,and 0.13 wt%,respectively.Ammoniacal thiosulfate was used for gold extraction from the biooxidation residue of the refractory gold concentrate.The results showed that the optimal reagent conditions were 0.18 M thiosulfate,0.02 M copper(II),1.0 M ammonia,and 0.24 M sulfite.Under these conditions,a maximum gold leaching efficiency of 85.05%was obtained.

Differences of cyanide leaching between calcine and dust from refractory gold concentrates

Differences of cyanide leaching between the calcine and the dust from a refractory gold concentrate were investigated by comparative method. Results showed that gold leaching efficiencies of the calcine and the dust were 85.31% and 54.30%, respectively, with direct cyanidation. Contents and existing forms of arsenic and carbon were the main reasons for those differences. The maximum gold leaching efficiencies of the calcine and the dust were 87.70% and 58.60%, respectively, with cyanidation after NaOH pre-leaching. Harmful elements removal, gold loss in NaOH pre-leaching and iron oxides hindrance codetermined gold leaching efficiencies of the calcine and the dust. After H2SO4 pre-leaching, the maximum gold leaching efficiencies of the calcine and the dust achieved 94.96% and 80.40%, respectively. The effect of carbonaceous matter was the main reason for differences for leaching efficiencies of the calcine and the dust. Based on those differences, two proper gold extraction processes were put forward, and gold leaching efficiencies for the calcine and the dust achieved 94.91% and 91.90%, respectively.

Microbial oxidation of refractory gold sulfide concentrate by a native consortium

A defined mesophilic consortium including an iron oxidizing bacterium and a sulfur oxidizing bacterium was constructed to evaluate its ability for bioleaching a flotation concentrate from Andacollo mine in Neuquén,Argentina.Experiments were performed in shake flasks with a pulp density of10%(w/v),using a basal salt medium containing ferrous iron at pH1.8.The leaching solutions were analyzed for pH,redox potential(using specifics electrodes),ferrous iron(by UV-Vis spectrophotometry)and metal concentrations(by atomic absorption spectroscopy).The results showed that the consortium was able to reduce the refractory behavior of the concentrate,allowing91.6%of gold recovery;at the same time,high dissolution of copper and zinc was reached.These dissolutions followed a shrinking core kinetic model.According to this model,the copper solubilization was controlled by diffusion through a product layer(mainly jarosite),while zinc dissolution did not show a defined control step.This designed consortium,composed of bacterial strains with specific physiological abilities,could be useful not only to optimize gold recovery but also to decrease the leachates metallic charge,which would be an environmental advantage.

Mineralogical characterization and pretreatment for antimony extraction by ozone of antimony-bearing refractory gold concentrates

The mineralogical characterization of antimony-bearing refractory gold concentrates and the antimony extraction by ozonein HCl solution were investigated.The mineralogical study shows that there exist stibnite(Sb2S3),arsenopyrite(FeAsS),pyrite(FeS2)and quartz in the concentrates,and the gold is mainly(67.42%)encapsulated in sulfides.The antimony extraction by ozone inhydrochloric acid was employed and the influences of temperature,liquid/solid ratio,HCl concentration and stirring speed on theextraction of antimony were investigated.High antimony extraction(93.75%)is achieved under the optimized conditions.After thepretreatment by ozone,the antimony is recovered efficiently and the gold is enriched in the leaching residue.

A new extraction process of refractory gold arsenosulfide concentrates

A new hydrometallurgical process for the refractory gold arsenosulfideconcentrates under normal temperature and pressure was presented. The experimental results of arefractory gold concentrate show that the total consumption of NaOH in alkaline leaching is only 40%of those theoretically calculated under the conditions of full oxidization at the same oxidation ofarsenic to ar-senate and sulfur to sulfate. After alkaline leaching, cyanidation and adsorptionwere carried out for 24 h. The dissolution of gold by NaCN is increased to 95.3% from 12.8% beforepretreatment, and meanwhile 99.3% of the adsorption of gold by activated charcoal. The consumptionof NaCN for one ton ore is 10 kg, which is 1.2 times less than that before pretreatment. As it iscarried out under normal temperature and pressure, the investment of installations is alsodecreased.

Effect of chloride ion on bacterial pre-oxidation of arsenic-containing gold concentrate

The bacterial pre-oxidation process of arsenic-containing gold concentrates and the bacterial activity under different chloride ion concentrations were studied by using a mixture of thermophilic strains TCJ domesticated in production.The experimental result shows that with different samples and leaching systems,the adaptability and Cl- tolerance of bacteria are different,and that appropriate chloride ion concentration is conductive to bacterial oxidation,while higher chloride ion concentration will inhibit the bacterial activity and affect the pre-oxidation performance.Under the present production conditions,TCJ can adapt to the changes of water quality in the source of water and its critical chloride ion tolerance value is 2.7 g/L.

Well-controlled stirring tank leaching to improve bio-oxidation efficiency of a high sulfur refractory gold concentrate

For the high sulfur refractory gold concentrate with 41.82%sulfur and 15.12 g/t gold,of which 82.11%was wrapped in sulfide,a well-controlled stirring tank leaching was carried out to improve the bio-oxidation efficiency.Results show that bio-oxidation pretreatment can greatly improve the gold recovery rate of high-sulfur refractory gold concentrate,and at the optimum pH 1.3 in this study,compared with the process without pH control,the oxidation rate of sulfur increased from 79.31%to 83.29%,while the recovery rate of gold increased from 76.54%to 83.23%;under this condition the activity of mixed culture could be sustained and the formation of jarosite could diminish.The results also displayed that for the high sulfur refractory gold concentrate,the recovery of gold is positively correlated with the oxidation rate of sulfur,and the recovery rate of gold increases with the increase of sulfur oxidation rate within a certain range.

Effect of mixed moderately thermophilic adaptation on leachability and mechanism of high arsenic gold concentrate in an airlift bioreactor

A refractory gold concentrate with 19% arsenic was treated by a mixed moderately thermophiles in an airlift bioreactor through an adaptation protocol. The moderately thermophiles could respond well to 20%(w/v) pulp density with less than 10% loss of productivity, and resist arsenic up to 15 g/L. There were a lot of jarosite, arsenolite and sulfur, but not scorodite and ferric arsenate in the bioleached residue. Jarosite passivation and lower sulfur-oxidizing activity of the cells due to the toxicity of the high concentrations of soluble arsenic and iron ions at low p H value should mainly response for the incomplete extraction at high pulp density. The initial bacterial community did not change in nature except for new found P aeruginosa ANSC, but sulfur-oxidizing microorganisms have been dominant microorganisms after a long time of adaptation. Pseudomonas aeruginosa originating from the gold concentrate should be closely relative to the metabolism of the organic matters contained in the refractory gold concentrate.

Influence of surfactants on bioleaching of arsenic-containing gold concentrate

To shorten the bioleaching cycle of arsenic-containing gold concentrate, surfactants were used to promote the interaction between bacteria and ore to increase the arsenic leaching rate. Three different kinds of surfactants were used to evaluate the effects of surfactants on the growth of bacteria and arsenic leaching rate of arsenic-containing gold concentrate. The mechanism underlying surfactant enhancement was also studied. Results show that when relatively low-concentration surfactants are added to the medium, no significant difference is observed in the growth and Fe2+ oxidation ability of the bacteria compared with no surfactant in the medium. However, only the anionic surfactant calcium lignosulfonate and the nonionic surfactant Tween 80 are found to improve the arsenic leaching rates. Their optimum mass concentrations are 30 and 80 mg/L, respectively. At such optimum mass concentrations, the arsenic leaching rates are approximately 13.7% and 9.1% higher than those without the addition of surfactant, respectively. Mechanism research reveals that adding the anionic surfactant calcium lignosulfonate improves the percentage of bacterial adhesion on the mineral surface and decreases the surface tension in the leaching solution.

A new extraction process of carbonaceous refractory gold concentrate

A new hydrometallurgical process for a carbonaceous refractory gold concentrate at ambient temperature and pressure was presented, including grinding-leaching, intensified alkaline leaching(IAL), thiosulfate leaching and cementation by zinc powder. The experimental results show that the grinding-leaching and intensified alkaline leaching process result in the selective oxidation of arsenopyrite and pyrite. The oxidation ratio of As is 96.6%, and 46.7% for S. The total consumption of NaOH in alkaline leaching is only 28% of that theoretically calculated under the conditions of full oxidization for the same amount of arsenopyrite and pyrite transforming into arsenates and sulfates, and 83.6% of gold is synchro-dissoluted by thiosulfate self-generated during pretreatment. Since the carbonaceous matter in concentrate possesses a strong capability of preg robbing, the cyanidation process is not suitable for the extraction of gold after pretreatment. However, the gold leaching rate by thiosulfate leaching for 24h is increased to 91.7% from 03.2% by ultra-fine grinding without the pretreatment. The recovery of gold by zinc cementation gets to 99.6%. Due to the thiosulfate self-generated during alkaline leaching, the reagent addition in thiosulfate leaching afterwards is lower than the normal one.

Consolidation mechanism of gold concentrates containing sulfur and carbon during oxygen-enriched air roasting

Consolidation in calcines is a common problem in the oxygen-enriched air roasting of refractory gold concentrates containing sulfur and carbon when the initial temperature is greater than 600°C. To determine the phases that caused consolidation, gold concentrates were roasted under different conditions and the calcines were mainly detected by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The possible underlying mechanism was then studied through comparisons of the XRD patterns of different calcines. The results indicated that the generation of calcium magnesium silicate, iron-doped calcium aluminosilicate, and calcium aluminate caused the consolidation. Furthermore, an enriched oxygen atmosphere accelerated the oxidation reaction and the emitted heat increased the local temperature in calcines. The local temperature was inferred to have increased to the generation temperature zone of the corresponding liquid phases. Oxidation of the pyrite and decomposition of the dolomite and muscovite mainly occurred at the initial stage of oxygen-enriched air roasting. Calcium was confirmed to be essential to the consolidation process. © 2017, University of Science and Technology Beijing and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Intensified alkaline leaching pretreatment of refractory gold concentrates at common temperature and pressure

A new process for the hydrometallurgy of refractory gold concentrates was presented. The process comprises grinding leaching, intensified alkaline leaching (IAL), cyanidation and adsorption. In a stirring type pulverizing leaching tower mill, the concentrate is ground to <35.6 μm of 95.5 % while simultaneously leached by NaOH of 12 kg/t, then carried out intensified alkaline leaching for 48 h by NaOH of 108 kg/t in enhanced agitation tanks with the pulp concentration of 40% solids at the environmental temperature of 9.5 ～ 13.5 ℃ and the environmental pressure of 10 5 Pa. The oxidation rate of As is 94.9%, and 47.6% for S. The total consumption of NaOH is only 20% of that theoretically calculated under the conditions of full oxidation at the same oxidation rates of arsenic to arsenate and sulfur to sulfate. The gold leaching rate by NaCN in 24 h is increased from 9.2% before pretreatment to 94.2%. The consumption of NaCN is 7.5 kg/t, which is one times less than that before pretreatment. The extraction cost of gold is about 422 Yuan/t.

XPS characteristics of sulfur of bio-oxidized arsenic-bearing gold concentrate and changes of surface nature of bio-oxidation residue

During bio-oxidation of sulfides, the chemical state change of sulfur is a complex and key factor. It is not only an indicator of the extent and intensity of the bio-oxidation, but also controls the property of bio-leaching medium and the period of oxidation. The chemical state of sulfur in sulfides oxidized by leaching bacteria was studied with XPS. Sulfide minerals in the arsenic-bearing gold concentrate consist of pyrite, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite and so on. In order to probe the pattern of the chemical state change of sulfur in the bio-oxidation residue of arsenic-bearing gold concentrate, the structure of the grains, and the surface nature of the residue, XPS test was carried out through different sputtering duration. The study of XPS clearly shows that: sulfides is progressively oxidized from the surface of minerals to the core by leaching bacteria; the chemical valence of sulfur changes from S2- or [S2]2- to [SO4]2-; sulfur in the core is in a reduction state, S2- or [S2]2-, but exists in an oxidation state S6+ on the surface; due to the chemical state change of sulfur, mineral phase of the bio-oxidation residue is also changed（sulfides inside, while sulfates outside）; the layered structure is found in the grains of the bio-oxidation residue.

SELECTIVE COPPER REMOVAL FROM CUPRIFEROUS GOLD CONCENTRATE

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Bioleaching of refractory gold ore (Ⅲ)--Fluid leaching Jinya refractory gold concentrate by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans

A novel fluidized bed reactor was designed and installed for bioleaching in a semi continuous way, by which a process for bioleaching cyanidation of Jinya refractory gold arsenical concentrate was studied. The arsenic extraction rate reaches 82.5% after 4 day batch biooxidation of the concentrate under the optimized condition of pH 2.0, ferric ion concentration 6.5?g/L and pulp concentration 10%. And leached rate of gold in the following cyanidation is over 90%. The parameters of three series fluidized bed reactors exhibit stability during the semi continuous bioleaching of the concentrate. Arsenic in the concentrate can be got rid of 91% after 6 day leaching. Even after 4 days, 82% of arsenic extraction rate was still obtained. The recovery rates of gold are 92% and 87.5% respectively in cyaniding the above bioleached residues. The results will provide a base for further commercial production of gold development.

Optimal Dearsenification Parameters of Gold Sulfide Concentrate with a High As Content

The gold sulfide concentrate with a high As content in Liangshan District, Sichuan Province, China, is a potentially important resource. This paper describes experiments of dearsenification of gold concentrate in a weakly reduced atmosphere in a rotary pipe furnace. The results showed that the optimal parameters were a temperature range of 650-700℃, 15%-16% CO2 of gas and a reaction time of 30-40 min. The removal rate of arsenic and sulfur was over 95% and 25%-28%, respectively. With further oxidization and roasting, residue sulfur in the roasted materials was dropped to below 4%, and the cyanide leaching recovery of gold was over 92%.