Leaching of Gold and Silver from a Complex Sulfide Concentrate in Copper-Tartrate-Thiosulfate Solutions
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Experimental
2.1. Sample and Reagents
2.2. Leaching Tests
2.3. Analysis
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Diagnostic Cyanidation
3.2. Direct Leaching with Copper-Tartrate-Thiosulfate Solutions
3.2.1. Effect of Leaching Time
3.2.2. Effect of Tartrate Concentration
−25.493 kcal/mol
3.2.3. Effect of Copper Concentration
3.2.4. Effect of Thiosulfate Concentration
3.2.5. Effect of Temperature
3.2.6. Effect of Initial Pulp pH
3.3. Roasting-Leaching Tests
3.4. Recycling of the Lixiviant
4. Conclusions
- (1)
- The copper-tartrate-thiosulfate leaching system exhibits promising performance in dealing with the complex sulfide concentrate. An extraction of 74.50% Au and 36.33% Ag can be obtained with the direct leaching of the concentrate. Under the experimental conditions, increasing the temperature and concentrations of copper, tartrate, and thiosulfate can promote gold leaching. Low tartrate content and a moderate increase in temperature and copper and thiosulfate concentrations can accelerate silver leaching, but a higher temperature or copper content may depress silver extraction. A suitable pulp pH is crucial to gold and silver leaching with copper-tartrate-thiosulfate solutions.
- (2)
- Roasting is an effective pretreatment method to deal with this concentrate. The gold and silver extraction can be significantly increased up to 82.60% and 70.38% when leaching the calcine following the oxidative roasting pretreatment. The secondary encapsulation phenomenon by newly generated hematite and magnetite at high temperatures may depress gold and silver leaching. The recycling of leaching solutions demonstrates that a suitable free tartrate content is of great significance in maintaining the stability of the novel leaching system.
- (3)
- The presence of tartrate in the copper-thiosulfate solutions can effectively promote the stability of thiosulfate and facilitate the leaching process. As an alternative to the traditional cyanide or copper-ammonia-thiosulfate leaching processes, the copper-tartrate-thiosulfate leaching system provides an environmentally friendly, nontoxic, and relatively low-cost method for gold and silver leaching from ores or concentrates.
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Materials (Gold Content) | Pretreatment | Optimal Conditions | Gold Extraction |
---|---|---|---|
Sulfide gold concentrate with high Fe, As and Sb (12.6 g/t) | Oxygen pressure leaching | 0.03 mol/L NiSO4, 1.0 mol/L NH3·H2O, 0.3 mol/L Na2S2O3, 6 h | 94.7% [40] |
Sulfide gold concentrate with high C, As and Sb (31.1 g/t) | Alkaline pressure oxidation | 0.012 mol/L CuSO4, 1.2 mol/L NH3·H2O, 0.2 mol/L Na2S2O3, 5 h | 86.1% [41] |
Sulfide gold ore (4.3 g/t) | Oxidative ammoniacal leaching | 0.006 mol/L CuSO4, 0.8 mol/L NH3·H2O, 0.1 mol/L Na2S2O3, 22 h | 94% [42] |
Sulfide gold concentrate (28.9 g/t) | Bio-oxidation | 0.02 mol/L CuSO4, 1.0 mol/L NH3·H2O, 0.18 mol/L Na2S2O3, 0.24 mol/L Na2SO3, 24 h | 85.05% [43] |
Sulfide gold concentrate (47.8 g/t) | Microwave roasting | 0.10 mol/L CuSO4, 0.20 mol/L Na3Cit, 0.10 mol/L Na2S2O3, 7 h | 94.5% [44] |
Sulfide gold concentrate with high Cu, Pb and Zn (353 g/t) | Mechanical activation | 10 g/L CuSO4, 0.5 mol/L (NH4)2S2O3, 403 kWh/t, 45 min | 99% [45] |
Gold calcinate (27.5 g/t) | Ultrasound | 0.03 mol/L CoSO4, 1.0 mol/L NH3·H2O, 0.2 mol/L Na2S2O3, 750 W, 8 h | 89% [46] |
Element | Au | Ag | Cu | Fe | Zn | C | As | S |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Content | 33.5 g/t | 152.9 g/t | 5.12 | 22.5 | 0.98 | 2.45 | 0.26 | 26.3 |
Element | Fe | Si | S | Cu | Al | Ca | Pb |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Content | 31.77 | 25.32 | 14.57 | 9.29 | 5.88 | 3.29 | 2.27 |
Element | K | Zn | Mg | As | Ti | Mn | Bi |
Content | 2.18 | 1.96 | 1.38 | 1.28 | 0.31 | 0.15 | 0.09 |
Element | P | Co | Mo | Sr | Ni | Zr | Rb |
Content | 0.08 | 0.06 | 0.05 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.02 |
Sample | Roasting Conditions | Mass Loss (g) | S (ω, %) |
---|---|---|---|
Gold concentrate | --- | 0 | 26.3 |
Gold calcine | 300 °C, 30 min | 0.74 | 24.9 |
Gold calcine | 400 °C, 30 min | 1.69 | 14.2 |
Gold calcine | 500 °C, 30 min | 2.38 | 12.1 |
Gold calcine | 700 °C, 30 min | 4.69 | 6.56 |
t/Cycle | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 h | 0.1299 | 0.1596 | 0.1460 | 0.1167 | 0.0966 |
8 h | 0.1561 | 0.1820 | 0.1645 | 0.1341 | 0.1051 |
16 h | 0.1800 | 0.1969 | 0.1790 | 0.1472 | 0.1114 |
24 h | 0.1981 | 0.2092 | 0.1873 | 0.1535 | 0.1117 |
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Chen, J.; Xie, F.; Wang, W.; Fu, Y.; Wang, J. Leaching of Gold and Silver from a Complex Sulfide Concentrate in Copper-Tartrate-Thiosulfate Solutions. Metals 2022, 12, 1152. https://doi.org/10.3390/met12071152
Chen J, Xie F, Wang W, Fu Y, Wang J. Leaching of Gold and Silver from a Complex Sulfide Concentrate in Copper-Tartrate-Thiosulfate Solutions. Metals. 2022; 12(7):1152. https://doi.org/10.3390/met12071152
Chicago/Turabian StyleChen, Junnan, Feng Xie, Wei Wang, Yan Fu, and Jian Wang. 2022. "Leaching of Gold and Silver from a Complex Sulfide Concentrate in Copper-Tartrate-Thiosulfate Solutions" Metals 12, no. 7: 1152. https://doi.org/10.3390/met12071152