Recovery of gold from refractory gold ores: Effect of pyrite on the stability of the thiourea leaching system

The extraction of gold from refractory gold ores(RGOs)without side reactions is an extremely promising endeavor.However,most RGOs contain large amounts of sulfide,such as pyrite.Thus,investigation of the influence of sulfide on the gold leaching process is important to maximize the utilization of RGOs.In this work,the effects of pyrite on the stability of the thiourea system were systematically investigated under different conditions.Results showed that the decomposition rate of thiourea was accelerated sharply in the presence of pyrite.The effect of pyrite on gold recovery in thiourea leaching systems was then confirmed via a series of experiments.The decomposition efficiency of thiourea decreased by 40%and the recovery efficiency of gold increased by 56%after the removal of sulfide by roasting.Under optimal conditions,the efficiency of the gold recovery system increased to 83.69%and only 57.92%of thiourea decomposition was observed.The high consumption of thiourea by the leaching system may be attributed to not only adsorption by mineral particles but also catalytic decomposition by some impurities in the ores,such as pyrite and soluble ferric oxide.

Research on Technology of Pressure Pretreatment with Oxygen for Refractory Gold Ores

An combined technology of pressure pretreatment with oxygen on refractory gold ores is pointed out and discussed on this paper, according to the experiments included the test in 1 kg grade batch pressure pretreatment with oxygen of the concentrate from the refractory gold ores of Dongbeizhai in Sichuan province, which is called the most refractory gold ores in China. It is shown that gold recovery reach 91.73% in the combined process which is described as follows: The flotation of the sulphide gold ores is under controlled conditions, producing the concentrate for pressure pretreatment with oxygen in acidic medium and the middling for the pressure pretreatment with oxygen in alkaline medium. The thickening and washing process substitute the pressure filtration process of the pulp after pressure pretreatment. The thick slimes of the two kinds of pressure pretreatment were mixed and then enter the CIL process for simplifying the flowsheet. The possible superabundance of acid of pressure pretreatment with oxygen in acidic medium was neutralized by the tailings of flotation and the cost of neutralization will be lower. The combined technology of pressure pretreatment with oxygen has the same advantages as the normal technology of pressure pretreatment and both is helpful for environment protection.

An Application of Microwave Pre-oxidation in Improving Gold Recovery of a Refractory Gold Ore

Microwave radiation was employed as a pretreating technology to oxidise a refractory gold ore. Heating characteristics showed that, in an identical microwave field, the bulk temperature of the sample increased with microwave power, microwave radiation time and particle size. The rate of sulphur removal increased with microwave radiation time. Particle size also had a significant effect on the oxidation rate. Pyrite and marcasite could be oxidised into Fe 2O 3 with a high porous structure. When microwave radiation was carried out in a rotary bed, the oxidation was more uniformly developed, in comparison with in a fixed bed. Gold extraction by cyanidation could be remarkably improved after the ore was subjected to microwave radiation. The results showed that gold recovery could be improved from 37% to 69%～ 81.2 %.

Simultaneous extraction of gold and zinc from refractory carbonaceous gold ore by chlorination roasting process

A novel process based on chlorination roasting was proposed to simultaneously recover gold and zinc from refractory carbonaceous gold ore by using NaCl as chlorination agent.The effects of roasting temperature,roasting time and NaCl content on the volatilization rates of gold and zinc were investigated.The reaction mechanism and the phase transition process were also analyzed by means of SEM,EDS and XRD.The results demonstrated that under the optimal conditions of NaCl content of 10%,roasting temperature of 800℃,roasting time of 4 h and gas flow rate of 1 L/min,the rates of gold and zinc were 92%and 92.56%,respectively.During low-temperature chlorination roasting stage,a certain content of sulfur was beneficial to the chlorination reactions of gold and zinc;and during high-temperature chlorination roasting stage,the crystal structure of vanadium-bearing mica was destroyed,and the vanadium-containing oxides were beneficial to the chlorinating volatilization of gold and zinc.Eventually,the chlorinated volatiles of gold and zinc could be recovered by alkaline solution.

Roasting and chlorine leaching of gold-bearing refractory concentrate:Experimental and process analysis

This paper deals with gold extraction from a refractory concentrate by chlorine leaching.The process considers a pre-treatment of refractory materials by low temperature oxidation carried out with low oxygen concentration.The oxidized material is treated by leaching with brine.After gold adsorption/reduction onto activated carbon,iron and base metals can be precipitated by NaOH.Roasting tests show the necessity to carry out a thermal pre-treatment at least at 550°C to obtain a reduction of sulfur and mercury in the material(50%and 90%,respectively).Highest gold extraction yield(around 93%)is obtained in the leaching test performed with material sample treated at 650°C.This result confrms the necessity to optimize the thermal pre-treatment to improve Au recovery and to reduce chlorine consumption.A comparison with conventional cyanidation confrms that chlorination could be an useful alternative:in fact,gold extraction yield is quite low:57%in non-pre-treated material and 25%in pre-treatment material.

Characterization of an iron oxy/hydroxide(gossan type) bearing refractory gold and silver ore by diagnostic leaching

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.

Acid leaching decarbonization and following pressure oxidation of carbonic refractory gold ore

Carbonate decomposition of carbonic refractory gold ore and the following pressure oxidation were studied.In the carbonate decomposition procedure,the effects of liquid-to-solid ratio and reaction time on decomposition ratio of carbonate were investigated.The experimental result shows that the decomposition ratio of carbonate is 98.24%under the conditions of liquid-to-solid ratio of 5:1,Fe^(3+)concentration of 20 g/L,sulfuric acid concentration of 20 g/L,reaction temperature of 80 ℃ and reaction time of 2 h.Then,the slurry obtained from carbonate decomposition was put into the titanium autoclave for pressure oxidation leaching.Effects of liquid-to-solid ratio,temperature,time and oxygen partial pressure on sulfur oxidation ratio were studied during pressure oxidation.With the prolonged time,pyrite and arsenopyrite are oxidized to ferric subsulfate,hydrated ferric sulfate and jarosite,resulting in the increasing residue ratio.The residue ratio and the sulfur content in the residue can be decreased by ferric subsulfate dissolution.The oxidation ratio of the sulfur is 99.35% under the conditions of oxidation time of 4 h,temperature of 210 ℃,oxygen partial pressure of 0.8 MPa and stirring speed of 600 r/min.

Improved recovery of a low-grade refractory gold ore using flotation–preoxidation–cyanidation methods

In this work, different flotation–preoxidation–cyanidation methods are considered for treating a lowgrade refractory gold ore. On the one hand, the results of selective flotation show that 22% and 31.1%of total Sb and As, respectively, remained in the final tailings and only about 28% of the total Au remained for further cyanidation processes. On the other hand, in bulk method of flotation the maximum Au recovery of 90.6% achieved after 60 min of flotation at the grind size with K80 of 146 micron. In addition, the bulk flotation method resulted in the concentrate with low concentrations of Sb and As elements. To improve the recovery of low-grade refractory gold ores, flotation should be followed by roasting, biological, or pressure oxidation processes so that the gold could be liberated prior to cyanidation processes. It is also found that the pressure oxidation pre-treatment of the concentrates prior to cyanidation may yield high gold recoveries of over than 83%. In these processes, recoveries are controlled by the temperature and the oxygen partial pressure in the solvent. However, by utilizing the bio-oxidation technique, the oxidation of sulfur to sulfate cannot be completed and, consequently, the gold recovery may be limited to only 72.2%.

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.

BIOOXIDATION OF TWO ARSENICAL REFRACTORY GOLD CONCENTRATES AND GOLD CYANIDATION

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Pool bio-oxidation and fitting analysis of low-grade arsenic-containing refractory gold ore

To overcome the limitations of geography,climate,and ore characteristics on the ore beneficiation process,biooxidation studies on low-grade arsenic-bearing refractory gold ore by pool leaching were carried out,as well as process fitting analysis.The gold particles are encapsulated by pyrite and arsenopyrite.After 60 days of biooxidation,the oxidation rates of arsenic,sulfur,and gold were 39%~69%,24%~41%,and 49%~83%,respectively.The inoculated Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans,Ferroplasma acidiphilum,and Leptospirillum ferrodiazotrophum could all mediate the initial pyrite/arsenopyrite oxidation and the Fe^(2+)oxidation reaction,but only the former could mediate the subsequent sulfur compound oxidation.When compared to daily bacterial circulation and bacterial replacement every ten days,aeration improved the gold leaching rate by 14%~22%.The Boltzmann model could fit both the arsenic and sulfur bio-oxidation,with model fit variances greater than 0.98.Based on the experimental and fitting results,the bio-oxidation cycle was determined to be 60 days,and the bio-oxidation mechanisms are summarized.This study has significant practical implications for the rational utilization of gold resources and provides theoretical and practical guidance for similar gold ores.

Effect of mechanical activation on thiosulfate leaching of gold from complex sulfide concentrate

The use of mechanical activation to enhance gold recovery from a CuPbZn complex sulfide concentrate was investigated. The effects of milling time, ball size, sample to ball ratio and milling speed on thiosulfate leaching were studied. Under optimum conditions of milling time 1 h, ball size 20 mm, sample to ball ratio 1/15 and mill speed 600 r/min, nearly 78% of sample is amorphized, particle size decreases from d100=30 μm to d100=8 μm, specific surface area increases from 1.3 m2/g to 4.6 m2/g and gold recovery enhances from 17.4 % in non-activated sample to 73.26 %.

硫脲-硫氰酸钠浸出难处理金矿及浸出剂的稳定性

采用高温焙烧、硫脲-硫氰酸钠浸出难处理金矿中的金,研究焙烧温度、硫氰酸钠浓度、硫脲(Tu)浓度、Fe3+浓度、pH值、浸出温度和时间对金浸出率的影响,得到混合体系浸金的最优条件,并研究浸出过程中硫氰酸钠和硫脲的稳定性。结果表明:金的浸出率达到93.1%,超过相同条件下单一体系中的浸出率之和,硫脲与硫氰酸钠摩尔比对金浸出率和金电极稳定电位影响较大;硫氰酸钠使硫脲的稳定性降低,而硫脲使硫氰酸钠的稳定性增强。

难处理含砷金精矿的生物预氧化—硫脲浸金工艺研究

本文用氧化亚铁硫杆菌（Ｔｈｉｏｂａｃｉｌｕｓｆｅｒｒｏｏｘｉｄａｎｓ）对含砷金精矿进行了氧化预处理脱砷实验，脱砷率达９８％。生物浸渣用ＳＯ２－硫脲浸取体系浸出金，不仅降低了硫脲用量，而且缩短了浸出时间，金的浸出率达９５％以上。该工艺具有广阔的应用前景。

硫脲浸金研究进展

硫脲浸金法因具有高效、环保、浸出速度快等优点,是一种很有发展前景的非氰提金法,而生物氧化预处理—硫脲浸金工艺以其条件温和、环境友好、浸金效率高同样倍受关注。详细介绍了硫脲浸金的基本原理、影响因素和浸金液中金的回收方法,以及生物氧化预处理—硫脲浸金联合工艺,并对硫脲浸金的发展进行了展望。

硫酸预氧化难处理金矿石的工艺研究

研究探讨了硫酸作为氧化剂，分解细粒浸染型含砷难处理金矿石的技术可能性。试验结果表明，硫酸可以有效地氧化砷黄铁矿而实现金的单体解离，适宜的分解条件为：硫酸与矿粉质量比＝３，采用机械搅拌，反应温度２４０～２６０℃，分解时间２～３ｈ，分解渣采用硫脲浸出时，浸金率高于９５％。浸金条件为：硫脲质量分数１％，三价铁作氧化剂，ＯＸ／Ｌ（氧化剂与络合剂比值）＝０．０４～００６，浸出时间６ｈ。

难浸金矿硫脲浸出试验研究

在有氧化剂存在的条件下,采用硫脲酸性浸出难浸金矿中的金,并考察了各种影响金浸出率的因素。结果表明,最佳浸金条件是:硫酸初始浓度1.3mol/L、硫脲浓度14g/L、硫酸铁浓度24g/L、液固比10∶1、浸出时间10h,金浸出率可达80%左右。

用硫酸氧化预处理从难处理金矿中提金的无害化工艺研究

探讨了硫酸作为氧化剂分解含砷难处理金矿的技术可行性，实验结果表明硫酸可以有效地氧化砷黄铁矿而实现金的单体解离，适宜的分解条件为：硫酸与矿粉重量比为３，采用机械搅拌，反应温度２４０～２６０℃，分解时间２～３ｈ，分解渣采用硫脲浸出时浸金率高于９５％浸金条件为：硫脲浓度１％，三价铁作氧化剂，氧化剂与络合剂比值为０．０４～０．０６，浸出时间６ｈ图１，表６。

黄金冶金技术的研究进展与前景

本文论述了黄金冶金技术的发展及已取得的研究成果.讨论了每种提金技术的优缺点及适用性,展望了它们的应用前景.

难浸金精矿硫脲浸金试验研究

讨论了某难浸金精矿的相关性质,分析了硫脲浸出剂的浸金机理,明确了硫脲浸金工艺流程。通过试验,分析了焙烧工艺、磨矿细度、硫脲用量、矿浆pH值、矿浆温度和浸出时间等影响因素,确定了硫脲浸金最佳工艺参数。在最佳工艺参数条件下,获得了金浸出率超过93%、银浸出率超过94%的工艺指标。