A Pretreatment of Refractory Gold Ores Containing Sulfide Minerals to Improve Gold Leaching by Ammonium Thiosulfate: A Model Experiment Using Gold Powder and Arsenic-Bearing Sulfide Minerals
The use of thiosulfate to extract gold from refractory ores is promising because of its non-toxicity and high selectivity. Sulfide minerals (i.e., pyrite, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite), major gold carriers in refractory gold ores, however, hinder gold extraction due to the high consumption of a lixivi...
| 出版年: | Metals |
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| 主要な著者: | , , , , , , |
| フォーマット: | 論文 |
| 言語: | 英語 |
| 出版事項: |
MDPI AG
2023-07-01
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| 主題: | |
| オンライン･アクセス: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/13/8/1357 |
| _version_ | 1851890023903789056 |
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| author | Takunda Joseph Mhandu Ilhwan Park Sanghee Jeon Sohta Hamatsu Yogarajah Elakneswaran Mayumi Ito Naoki Hiroyoshi |
| author_facet | Takunda Joseph Mhandu Ilhwan Park Sanghee Jeon Sohta Hamatsu Yogarajah Elakneswaran Mayumi Ito Naoki Hiroyoshi |
| author_sort | Takunda Joseph Mhandu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| container_title | Metals |
| description | The use of thiosulfate to extract gold from refractory ores is promising because of its non-toxicity and high selectivity. Sulfide minerals (i.e., pyrite, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite), major gold carriers in refractory gold ores, however, hinder gold extraction due to the high consumption of a lixiviant. In this study, a new method to improve gold extraction from sulfide bearing gold ores is proposed based on the model experiments using a mixture of gold powder and arsenopyrite-bearing sulfide (HAsBS) ore. The effects of HAsBS ore on gold leaching in ammonium thiosulfate solutions were investigated, and it was found that gold extraction in the presence of HAsBS ore was suppressed because of the unwanted decomposition of thiosulfate on the surface of sulfide minerals. To improve gold extraction in the presence of the sulfide minerals, this study investigated the effects of the pretreatment of HAsBS ore using ammonium solutions containing cupric ions and confirmed that HAsBS ore was oxidized in the pretreatment and its surface was covered by the oxidation products. As a result, thiosulfate consumption was minimized in the subsequent gold leaching step using ammonium thiosulfate, resulting in an improvement in gold extraction from 10% to 79%. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e5bab82bb691438ba3008bd74dfdbc31 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Journals |
| issn | 2075-4701 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| spelling | doaj-art-e5bab82bb691438ba3008bd74dfdbc312025-08-19T22:10:00ZengMDPI AGMetals2075-47012023-07-01138135710.3390/met13081357A Pretreatment of Refractory Gold Ores Containing Sulfide Minerals to Improve Gold Leaching by Ammonium Thiosulfate: A Model Experiment Using Gold Powder and Arsenic-Bearing Sulfide MineralsTakunda Joseph Mhandu0Ilhwan Park1Sanghee Jeon2Sohta Hamatsu3Yogarajah Elakneswaran4Mayumi Ito5Naoki Hiroyoshi6Division of Sustainable Resource Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8628, JapanDivision of Sustainable Resource Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8628, JapanDepartment of Earth Resources Engineering and Environmental Science, Faculty of International Resources Science, Akita University, Akita 010-0852, JapanDivision of Sustainable Resource Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8628, JapanDivision of Sustainable Resource Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8628, JapanDivision of Sustainable Resource Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8628, JapanDivision of Sustainable Resource Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8628, JapanThe use of thiosulfate to extract gold from refractory ores is promising because of its non-toxicity and high selectivity. Sulfide minerals (i.e., pyrite, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite), major gold carriers in refractory gold ores, however, hinder gold extraction due to the high consumption of a lixiviant. In this study, a new method to improve gold extraction from sulfide bearing gold ores is proposed based on the model experiments using a mixture of gold powder and arsenopyrite-bearing sulfide (HAsBS) ore. The effects of HAsBS ore on gold leaching in ammonium thiosulfate solutions were investigated, and it was found that gold extraction in the presence of HAsBS ore was suppressed because of the unwanted decomposition of thiosulfate on the surface of sulfide minerals. To improve gold extraction in the presence of the sulfide minerals, this study investigated the effects of the pretreatment of HAsBS ore using ammonium solutions containing cupric ions and confirmed that HAsBS ore was oxidized in the pretreatment and its surface was covered by the oxidation products. As a result, thiosulfate consumption was minimized in the subsequent gold leaching step using ammonium thiosulfate, resulting in an improvement in gold extraction from 10% to 79%.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/13/8/1357goldarsenopyriteammonium thiosulfatecyanideleachingrefractory ores |
| spellingShingle | Takunda Joseph Mhandu Ilhwan Park Sanghee Jeon Sohta Hamatsu Yogarajah Elakneswaran Mayumi Ito Naoki Hiroyoshi A Pretreatment of Refractory Gold Ores Containing Sulfide Minerals to Improve Gold Leaching by Ammonium Thiosulfate: A Model Experiment Using Gold Powder and Arsenic-Bearing Sulfide Minerals gold arsenopyrite ammonium thiosulfate cyanide leaching refractory ores |
| title | A Pretreatment of Refractory Gold Ores Containing Sulfide Minerals to Improve Gold Leaching by Ammonium Thiosulfate: A Model Experiment Using Gold Powder and Arsenic-Bearing Sulfide Minerals |
| title_full | A Pretreatment of Refractory Gold Ores Containing Sulfide Minerals to Improve Gold Leaching by Ammonium Thiosulfate: A Model Experiment Using Gold Powder and Arsenic-Bearing Sulfide Minerals |
| title_fullStr | A Pretreatment of Refractory Gold Ores Containing Sulfide Minerals to Improve Gold Leaching by Ammonium Thiosulfate: A Model Experiment Using Gold Powder and Arsenic-Bearing Sulfide Minerals |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Pretreatment of Refractory Gold Ores Containing Sulfide Minerals to Improve Gold Leaching by Ammonium Thiosulfate: A Model Experiment Using Gold Powder and Arsenic-Bearing Sulfide Minerals |
| title_short | A Pretreatment of Refractory Gold Ores Containing Sulfide Minerals to Improve Gold Leaching by Ammonium Thiosulfate: A Model Experiment Using Gold Powder and Arsenic-Bearing Sulfide Minerals |
| title_sort | pretreatment of refractory gold ores containing sulfide minerals to improve gold leaching by ammonium thiosulfate a model experiment using gold powder and arsenic bearing sulfide minerals |
| topic | gold arsenopyrite ammonium thiosulfate cyanide leaching refractory ores |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/13/8/1357 |
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