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Department of Extractive Metallurgy and Mineral Science, A.J. Parker Cooperative Research Centre for Hydrometallurgy,
Murdoch University, Perth, WA 6150, Australia
Received 24 November 2003; accepted 20 January 2004
Abstract
Thermodynamics and speciation of the Au(0/I/III) system are reviewed on the basis of published data on disproportionation of
Au(I) and solubility of gold metal and Au(I/III) salts. Kinetics of gold oxidation from rotating gold discs, gold colloid, goldsilver
alloy and gold ores reported in the literature are reviewed to compare and contrast dierent lixiviant systems. Linear correlations of
stability constants of Au(I) complexes with respect to relevant complexes of Ag(I) and Cu(I) show the stability order of Au(I)
2
complexes with dierent ligands: CN > HS > S2 O2
3 > SC(NH2 )2 > OH > I > SCN > SO3 > NH3 > Br > Cl > CH3 CN. In the
case of Au(III) the stability order of complexes is CN > OH > SCN > Br > Cl . The EhpH and Ehlog[Cl ] diagrams of Au(0/I/
III)OH NH3 and Fe(II/III)Cu(0/I/II)Au(0/I/III)Cl systems are revised to incorporate complex species such as AuOH0 ,
Au(OH)
2 and AuCl2 . Solubility of gold salts follows the order NaAuCl4 > KAuCl4 > AuCl3 Au(NH3 )4 (NO3 )2 > Au2 S/
H2 S > Au(OH)3 /NaOH > Au(OH)3 . Solubility of gold metal in the presence of oxidants decreases in the order MgS/H2 S Fe(III)/
Cl > Cu(II)/Cl > Cu(II)/NH3 NaOH/H2 O at a given temperature, but increases with increasing temperature. Results from
rotating disc studies in dierent lixiviant systems show that the rate of gold oxidation depends on the temperature and concentration of
oxidant and ligand. Silver dissolves faster than gold and thus Ag(I) catalyses the gold dissolution by redox-displacement. The surface
chemical reaction mechanism for gold dissolution is rationalized on the basis of electrochemical and adsorption theory. Rate of gold
leaching in dierent lixiviant systems is represented by a shrinking sphere/core model with an apparent rate constant of 105 s1 .
2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Hydrometallurgy; Gold ores; Leaching; Reaction kinetics; Redox reactions
1. Introduction
Gold can be dissolved using a range of oxidants in the
presence of a range of ligands (L) to produce soluble
species Au(I)L2 and Au(III)L4 (charge ignored, Eqs. (1)
(6)). The cyanidation process (Eq. (1)) has been used to
leach gold over 100 years since it was patented in 1888
by MacArthur and Forrest brothers (MacArthur et al.,
1888). Despite the long-term use of cyanidation there is
a growing interest in non-cyanide gold technology based
on the lixiviants noted in Eqs. (2)(6) and Table 1,
mainly due to the failure of cyanidation to extract gold
from the so-called dicult-to-treat ores and the environmental and safety issues (Nicol et al., 1987; Hiskey
and Atluri, 1988; La Brooy et al., 1994; Sparrow and
Woodcock, 1995; Ritchie et al., 2001).
*
0892-6875/$ - see front matter 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.mineng.2004.01.008
1
2Au H2 O2 4L
4
5
Au CuII or FeIII 2L
AuIL2 CuI or FeII
L Cl ; S2 O2
3 ; SCN ; SCNH2 2 ; NH2 CH2 COO ;
786
Table 1
Oxidants and ligands for non-cyanide gold processing (selected from
Sparrow and Woodcock, 1995)
Oxidants
Ligands
NH
4
H2 S
H2 O or OH
H2 SO3
O2 or H2 O2
S or S2
x
X2 , X
3 or OX
Fe(III), Cu(II)
NH3
HS , S2
OH
SO2
3
Cl , OH , S2 O2
3 , HSO3 , NH3
HS , S2
X (X Cl. Br, I, SCN)
Cl , S2 O2
3 , SCN , SC(NH2 )2 ,
NH2 (CH2 )COO , NH2 CH(CH3 )COO
2Aus S2
x 2AuS x 2S
Na2 S2 O3 3 or 4 CuSO4
0:5Na2 S4 O6 Na3 or 5 CuS2 O3 2 or 3 Na2 SO4
10
Na2 S4 O6 2NaOH Na2 S3 O6 Na2 S5 O6
11
12
14
15
787
3. Thermodynamics
3.1. Linear correlations of stability constants
The values of the equilibrium constant bn [AuLn ]/
[Auz ][L]n for the reaction Auz +nL AuLn listed in
Table 2 provide useful information on gold(I/III) speciation in process liquors; z 1 and 3 for Au(I) and
Au(III) corresponds to the coordination numbers n 1,
2 and 3, 4 respectively. The published values of bn are
generally based on the measured reduction potentials
and/or saturated solubility of chlorides, cyanides, sulp2
hides and hydroxides. Unlike Ag(H2 O)
h and Cu(H2 O)h
which are stable in pure water as hydrated ions of the
relevant salts (e.g. AgNO3 , CuSO4 ), the mono-valent
ions Cu(H2 O)
h and Au(H2 O)h are unstable in the absence of strongly complexing ligands due to disproportionation e.g. 3Au(I) 2Au(s)+Au(III). A plot of
logfb2 CuIL2 or AuIL2 g against logfb2 AgIL2 g
shown in Fig. 1, suggested by Finkelstein and Hancock
(1974), can be used for two purposes: (i) to examine the
validity of the published data for Au(I) and Cu(I) systems, and (ii) to predict bn values for systems for which
reliable data are not available.
Linear functions (denoted by LF1 and LF2) used for
this purpose, based on Fig. 1, are shown in Table 3.
788
Table 2
Stability constants of gold(I) and gold(III) complexes (log bn for n 1 4) at 25 C
Ligand
Complex
log bn
Chloride
AuCl
2
AuCl
4
AuBr
2
AuBr
4
AuI
2
AuI4
AuOH0
9.71
25.3
12.7
32.8
19.2
47.7
10.2
20.6
24
44
45.6
18, 19.5, 21, 26a
13b
46, 30b
17.2
43.9
38.3
85
1.6
23.3
25.4
18
17.7
24.5
30.1
32.8
38.9
41.1
72.9
26, 24b
28
26.8, 16b
Bromide
Iodide
Hydroxide
Au(OH)
2
Au(OH)03
Au(OH)
4
Au(NH3 )
2
Au(NH3 )
2
Au(NH3 )3
4
Au(SCN)
2
Au(SCN)
4
Au(CN)
2
Au(CN)
4
Au(CH3 CN)
2
Au(SC(NH2 )2 )
Au(SeC(NH2 )2 )
Au(NH2 CH2 COO)
2
Au(NH2 CH(CH3 )COO)
2
AuHS0
Au(HS)
2
Ammonia
Thiocynate
Cyanide
Acetonitrile
Thiourea
Selenourea
Glycinate
Alanate
Bisulphide
Thiosulphate
AuS
Au2 S2
2
Au2 S(HS)2
2
Au(S2 O3 )3
2
Sulphite
Au(SO3 )3
2
Sulphide
Reference
Sharpe (1976)
Johnson et al. (1978)
CN-
HS-
y = 1.85x
R2 = 0.99
SCN
30
S2O32SeC(NH2)2
I-, SC(NH2)2
NH3
SO32-
40
Cl
CH3CN
log{2(AuL2 or CuL2)}
50
Based on the data from Finkelstein and Hancock (1974) and Bard (1973) unless stated otherwise.
a
A range of values are reported based on dierent values of E0 (Au /Au).
b
Value based on linear free energy correlations in Figs. 1 and 2 (Senanayake et al., 2003).
20
y = 0.96x
R2 = 0.99
Au(I), LF1
Au(I) with large deviations
Cu(I), LF2
Cu(I) with large deviations
H2O
10
0
0
10
15
20
25
log{2(AgL2)}
3
logfb2 AuNH3 2 g 13 and logfb2 AuSO3 2 g 16
listed in Table 2.
789
Table 3
Linear mathematical relationships between stability constants of Cu(I), Ag(I) and Au(I/III) complexes based on Figs. 1 and 2
No.
Figure
Linear relationship
LF1
LF2
LF3
LF4
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
logfb2 (AuL2 )}
logfb2 (CuL2 )}
logfb4 (AuL4 )}
logfb2 (CuL2 )}
1
1
2
2
Cl-
40
20
CN-
y = 2.28x
R2 = 0.98
Br-
SCN-
60
Cl-
NH2CH2COO
NH2CH(CH3)COO-
0
0
10
15
20
25
30
y = 0.53x
R2 = 1.00
35
40
M2S(HS)2
2-
y = 0.80x + 20.09
R2 = 1.00
y = 0.79x + 15.16
2
R = 1.00
MHS
M(HS)2
Cu(I)
Au(I)
20
0
0
10
20
30
40
0.99)
0.99)
0.98)
1.00)
3AuCH3 CN
x
16
3H2 O
2Aus AuOH03
100
40
60
(R2
(R2
(R2
(R2
2AuCH3 CNx H2 O
2Aus 0:5O2 g 2H
log{2(AuL2)}
80
HS-
80
OH-
Au(III), LF3
Cu(I), LF4
H2 O
log{4(AuL4)} or log{2(CuL2)}
100
50
60
70
80
17
790
Table 4
Disproportionation (Kd ), hydrolysis (Kh ) and acid dissociation (Ka ) equilibrium constants of Cu(I) and Au(I) in aqueous media at 25 C; calculated
using bn from Table 2 and Hogfeldt (1982) and E0 from Bard (1973) unless stated otherwise
No.
Type of equilibrium
Reference
2CuCl
2 (aq) Cu + CuCl (aq)+ 3Cl
2Cu (aq) Cu0 + Cu2 (aq)
2
0
2Cu(NH3 )
2 Cu + Cu(NH3 )4
3Au(OH)
2Au(0)
+
Au(OH)
2
4 + 2OH
0
Au(OH)
Au
+
OH
+
0.25O
+
0.5H
2
2O
2
3Au(SCN)
2 2Au + Au(SCN)2 + 2SCN
AuOH0 Au + 0.25O2 + 0.5H2 O
0
3AuBr
2 2Au + AuBr4 + 2Br
0
3AuCl
2 2Au + AuCl4 + 2Cl
3Au 2Au0 + Au3
3
0
3Au(NH3 )
2 2Au + Au(NH3 )4 +2NH3
105
106
106:5
1011
100:2
100:3
101:2
105
108
109
1012
AuCl
2 + 2H2 O Au(OH)2 +2H + 2Cl
0
AuCl
2 + H2 O AuOH + H + 2Cl
Au(NH3 )
2 + 2H2 O Au(OH)2 + 2NH4
2
Au(NH3 )3
+ NH
4 + H2 O Au(NH3 )3 OH
4
0
Au(NH3 )
2 + H2 O AuOH + NH3 + NH4
1015
102:5
100:6
100:2
102:8
Au(NH3 )3
Au(NH3 )3 NH2
4
2 +H
NH
NH
+
H
3
4
107:5
109:2
Au
Au(OH)4
1.5
Au(OH)3(s)
or Au2O3(s)
1.0
Au(OH)2
0.0
Au(s)
(b)
-0.5
-2
10
12
14
pH
2.0
3+
Au
Au(NH3)42+
(a)
Au(NH3)3NH22+
Au(OH)4-
1.0
0
-
AuOH
Au(OH)2
Eh / V
AuOH
0.5
Au(s)
0.0
NH4+
NH3
(b)
Au(s)
-0.5
-2
0.5
1.5
AuOH
Eh / V
(a)
3+
2.0
6
pH
10
12
14
791
Table 5
Solubility of gold salts
Salt
T (C)
Medium
AuCN
Au2 S2 O3 .3BaS2 O3
Au2 S
25
0.4 m KCN
Water
H2 S(aq)
NaAuCl4
KAuCl4
AuCl3
Au(NH3 )4 (NO3 )3
Au(OH)3
Au(OH)3
Au(OH)3
30
30
Au solubilitya
pH
(mg/kg)
25
(g/kg)
70
6.6
0.008
0.009
0.01
0.2
0.02
0.4
2.0
7.3
11.6
11.6
12.0
11.9
0.003
4.1
2.7
39
14
256
Water
Water
Water
Water
0.41 M NaOH
0.1 M NaOH
Water
25
25
25
25
967
495
441
13
0.21
0.02
0.006
Data: Linkey and Seidell (1958), Au2 S data from Renders and Seward (1989).
a
Gold (I/III) dissolved in 1 kg of water.
18
19
20
AuHS2
1.E-01
2
Au2 SHS2
21
22
2H
23
1.E-02
1.E-03
1.E-04
1.E-05
1.E-06
1.E-07
1.E-08
0
12
16
pH or log{[OH-]/Kw}
792
1.0E+01
NaAuCl4
Au(NH3)4(NO3)2
1.0E+00
Au(s)/MgS
1.0E-01
1.0E-02
1.0E-03
1.0E-04
1.0E-05
1.0E-06
1.0E-07
Au(OH)3
Au(s)/Cu(II)/NH3
Au(s)/Cu(II)/HCl/NaCl
Au(s)/Fe(III)/NaCl/H2SO4
Au(s)/NaOH
Au(s)/Au(III)/ClO4CH3CN/H2O/pH 2
1.0E-08
10
100
Temperature / C
1000
24
25
26
27
29
30
Table 6
Solubility of gold dissolved from metallic gold, goldsilver alloy (al), colloidal gold (col) or mixed goldsilver colloid
System
Au/O2 /KCN
Au/Fe(III)/NaCl
Au/Cu(II)/NaCl
Au/H2 O2 /SC(NH2 )2
Au/O2 /Na2 S2 O3
Au(al) (64 mol% Ag)
Au(col)
Au(col) (12% Ag)
Au(col) (20% Ag)
[Oxidant] (mM)
7
100
100
600
0
0
17.6
8.8
8.8
8.8
100b
[Ligand] (mM)
0.15
2.4
3.4
3.4
8.6
8.6
8.6
8.6
8.6
8.6
pH 8.6
Acid (M)
0.1 (HCl)
0.1 (HCl)
None
0.1 (H2 SO4 )
0.1
0.05
0.1
0.2
T (C)
Time (h)
Au solubility (mg/l)
18
40
102
104
1
185
23
1
6
6
6
14
14
14
1512
4100
23
45
170 (McDonald et al., 1987)
0
3
9.5
41
43
41
1.5 (Webster, 1986)
24
0.7
10
11
25
793
Table 7
Eect of temperature on gold dissolution equilibria in selected non-cyanide media
Dissolution equilibrium
K (25 C)
K (150 C)
Reference
106
1011:5
1012
1012
1019
1022
101:6
107:1
108 (at 102 C)
108 (at 102 C)
1012
1013
1.4
AuOH0
Cl2(g)
Cl-
AuCl4-
1.2
Au(s)
Fe3+
FeCl2+
FeCl2+
0.2
Cu(s)
FeCl+
2-
Cu
CuCl3
2+
0.4
CuCl2
Fe2+
CuCl
0.6
AuCl2-
Au(s)
0.8
CuCl2-
1.0
Eh / V
0.0
-0.2
-2.0
(a)
AuCl4-
FeCl3
FeCl2
(b)
-1.0
0.0
1.0
2.0
log[Cl ]
Fig. 8. Ehlog[Cl ] diagram for Au(0/I/III)Fe(II/III)Cu(0/I/II)O2
Cl system at 25 C based on bn (Hogfeldt, 1982) and E0 (Bard, 1973),
assuming unit activity coecients, [Au(I)] [Au(III)] 105 M and
others at 0.1 M, pH 1.
31
794
10
8
6
4
2
0
0.25 M
NaOH
0.01 M
Ca(OH)2
none
0.16 M
HNO3
0.3 M
HCl
0.1 M
H2SO4
Table 8
Rate of dissolution gold, silver or goldsilver alloy in dierent lixiviant systems
Oxidant/ligand//pH/other conditions
[Oxidant] (mM)
[Ligand] (mM)
T (C)
Reference
Cl2 /1 M HCl
Cl2 /Cl /pH 4
Br2 /Br /pH 4.5
Fe(III)/SC(NH2 )2 /0.1 M H2 SO4
O2 /CN /pH 10.5
Cu(NH3 )2
4 /pH 9.7/0.5 M (NH4 )2 SO4
Co(NH3 )3
6
O2
H2 O2
O2 /CN /100 g/l NaCl
O2 /CN
O2 /CN
Cu(II)/S2 O2
3 /0.4 M NH3
HOCl/NaCl/pH 3.5
c
Cu(II)/S2 O2
3 /0.84 M NH3 /pH 10
NaOCl/NaCl/pH 6
NaOCl/NaCl/pH 6
NaOCl/NaCl/pH 7
Cu(II)/NH3 /pH 10/1.0 M (NH4 )2 SO4
Cu(NH3 )2
4 /0.32 M NaOCl
I2 /I /pH 10/1 M NH3
Fe(III)/NaCl/0.5 M H2 SO4
Fe(III)/NaCl/0.5 M H2 SO4
O2 /S2 O2
3
2
2
25
5
1000
1000
97
26.3
77
10
200
400
200
4.6
2.3
24
2.4
1.2
0.06
0.05
0.04
0.01
)(2.5)a
0.1 (4.1)a
)(9.6)a
3.8 (3.8)
1.4 (1.6)a
)(3.9a , 26.6b )
0.7
14
7
0.06
1.1
0.07
11.7
19.3
0.01
1
1
1
1
0.15(air)
0.26(air)
1.28(O2 )
10
0.8
25
27
135
135
1
157
1
100
100
sat
12
12
25
25
25
75
75
75
75
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
135
140
75
200
200
30
O2 /S2 O2
3 /0.2 M (NH4 )2 S2 O3
O2 /SC(NH2 )2 /0.2 M (NH4 )2 S2 O3
O2 /SC(NH2 )2 /0.2 M(NH4 )2 S2 O3
O2 /SC(NH2 )2 /0.2 M Na2 S2 O3
sat
sat
sat
sat
200
5
10
5
30
30
30
30
5
5
5
100
1700
400
85
850
850
2000
0.40
0.55
0.47
0.04
Jerey (2001)
Tran et al. (2001)
Han (2001)
300
Ag metal
Ag-Au alloy
Ag colloid
-1
[Ag(I)] / mg L
795
200
100
0.3
Ag-Au ore
Slope = 0.6
0.2
Slope 0.5
0.1
0.0
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
Time / weeks
2
silver in Cu(II)NH3 S2 O2
3 (26.6 mol/m /s) is six times
faster than that of gold from AuAg alloy. Fig. 10
shows the concentration of silver dissolved from silver
metal, silver colloid, mixed silvergold colloid and silvergold alloy in the presence of O2 /Na2 S2 O3 /pH 10/Eh
0.3 V. It is of interest to note that the rate of dissolution
of silver from both mixed silvergold colloid and alloy is
slower than that of pure silver. Moreover, the dissolved
silver seems to approach an equilibrium concentration
in the case of mixed silvergold colloid. Whilst pure
silver dissolves faster than pure gold (Table 7), gold
dissolves faster in the presence of silver (Table 6). Thus
silver(I) in solution seems to catalyse the gold dissolution according to Eqs. (32)(34) (c colloid).
S2 O2
3
3
AuS2 O3 2
Aus or c
32
AgS2 O
3
Ags or c
0.1
0.2
33
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
-1
[Ag(I)] / mmol L
60
NaOCl/NaCl (20 C) > Fe(III)/Cl (200 C) > Cl2 /HCl/
12 C > Cu(II)/NH3 /S2 O2
3 (20 C) > Fe(III)/SC(NH2 )2
(25 C) > Cu(NH3 )2
/NaOCl
(140 C) > O2 /SC(NH2 )2
4
(30 C) > O2 /(NH4 )2 S2 O3 (30 C). However, due to the
fact that rate (R) is expressed by the general equation
R k [Oxidant]a [Ligand]b , where a and b are the
reaction orders with respect to oxidant and ligand
respectively, the rate constant (k) gives a better comparison between dierent lixiviant systems. Thus, Fig. 12
compares the loglog plots of rate vs [Oxidant] in the
three dierent lixiviant systems O2 /CN , Cu(II)/NH3 /
S2 O2
and Fe(III)/SC(NH2 )2 . Table 9 summarizes the
3
kinetic parameters based on Fig. 12. The slopes of linear
relationships in Fig. 12 indicates the reaction order 0.6
with respect to [O2 ] and 0.9 with respect to [Fe(III)] and
[Cu(II)]. In the case of Cu(II) the order decreases to 0 at
higher values of [Cu(II)]. Despite the lower concentration of 5 mM CN compared to 400 mM S2 O2
3 and 140
mM SC(NH2 )2 , the value of k [Ligand]b i.e. the y
AgS2 O3 3
2
AuS2 O3 3
2 Ags or c
34
3
2
log {105 R / mol m-2 s-1}
y = 0.6x + 2.7
R2 = 1.0
0
-1
Slope = 0.9
y = 0.9x + 2.8
R2 = 1.0
-2
-3
-4.0
-3.5
-3.0
-2.5
-2.0
-1.5
-1.0
Fig. 12. Loglog plot of rate of gold dissolution from rotating discs vs
concentration of oxidant. Data: O2 /cyanide (Table 7); Cu(II)NH3
S2 O2
3 /30 C (Jerey, 2001); Fe(III)/SC(NH2 )2 /25 C (Chen et al.,
1980).
796
Table 9
Kinetic parameters in the rate equation rate k [Oxidant]a [Ligand]b , from Fig. 12
Lixiviant
O2 /CN
Cu(II)/S2 O2
3 /NH3
Fe(III)/SC(NH2 )2 /H2 SO4
[Oxidant] (mM)
[Ligand] (mM)
a (slope)
k [Ligand]b (y intercept)
0.151.3
125
7.243
5
400
140
0.6
0.90
0.9
2.7
840 (NH3 )
5 (H2 SO4 )
Kads CuII
S2 O2
3
f1
1
35
36
1
Kads CuII
S2 O2
3
g
37
Due to the redox nature, the surface reaction for the
oxidation of gold by Cu(II) can be represented by the
2.8
anodic reaction
38
s Au0CuIIads e
cathodic reaction
s Au0 CuIaq
39
2s Au0CuIIads s CuIIads s Au0
AuIaq CuIaq
overall
40
41
2
42
43
R ka kc 0:5 h kRDS h
44
R kRDS h
kRDS Kads CuII
S2 O2
3
=f1 Kads CuII
S2 O2
3
g
45
46
R kRDS
47
797
Table 10
Description of material and conditions used in leaching tests (references in Table 11)
Test/material
Mineralogical constituents
Au g/t
Ag (g/t)
Size (lm)
PD (%)
B8/conc.
Z4/Mn ore
J4/oat conc.
A3/gold ore
N11/conc.
4.76
3
154
51.6
95
113
113c
24.3
44
74
40
40
4.7
J11-J12/oxide ore
K1K3/conc.
W1/bio-oxidized
U1/oxide ore
a
SiO2 , (K,Na,Al,MgSiAlOOH)
FeS, FeS2 , CuFeS2 ,
(Cu,Fe)12 As4 S13
SiO2 , Al2 O3 , Fe2 O3 , MgO, CaO
FeAsSd
a
910
110
2.13
4.1
<0.5
Cu (%)
S (%)
Fe (%)
1
235
3.7
50
40.4
0.39
74
3774
40
40
75b
33
1020
20
20
Not reported.
80% passing (P80 ).
c
Most of Ag associated with MnO2 .
d
Contained 0.10.2% iron sulphide and carbon containing compounds.
b
Cu (g/t)
17
3.17
0.18
3.23
3.82
75b
74
798
Table 11
Leaching conditions and apparent rate constants (kss and kpl ) for gold extraction from dierent types of gold ores using non-cyanide lixiviantsa
Lixiviant/Test/Material
pH
T (C)
[Oxidant] (mM)
[Ligand] (M)
[NH3 ]t (M)
0.67
4.12
4.41
4
(pH 10)
Cu(II)/S2 O2
3 /NH3
B8/conc.
Z4/Mn ore
J4/gold. conc.
A3/gold ore
N11/conc.
O2 /S2 O2
3
J11/oxide ore
J12/oxide ore
Fe(III)/S2 O2
3
K3/FeAsS conc.
Fe(III)/SCN
W1/bio-oxidized
K2/FeAsS conc.
Fe(III)/SC(NH2 )2
K1/FeAsS conc.
U1/oxide ore
Cu(II)/O2 /NH3
H1/sulphidic/refractory
10
8.510.5
10
60
60
60
60
25
46.5d
94
63
100
12
0.34
1.96
0.71
2
17
11
12
60
40
0.1
0.1
20
15
0.5
0.8
2
2.2
200
15
0.05
0.4
0.8
20
10
20
20
200
15
0.14 kg/t
0.2
100 g/kg
38
5.5
1.0
1.0
0.8
y = 2E-05x
R2 = 0.912
0.6
X or 1-(1-X)
X or 1-(1-X)1/3
0.8
y = 2E-05x
R2 = 0.9977
0.4
K1 /thiourea (X)
K2 / thiocyanate (X)
K3 / thiosulphate (X)
K1 / shrinking sphere model
K2 / shrinking sphere model
K3 / shrinking sphere model
1/3
J12 (X)
J12 (shriking sphere model)
N11 (X)
N11 (shrinking sphere model)
y = 4E-05x
R2 = 0.9893
0.6
0.4
y = 3E-05x
R2 = 0.964
0.2
0.2
0.0
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
Time / s
0.0
0
5000
10000
15000
Time / s
2
Fig. 13. Gold extraction curves with Cu(II)/NH3 /S2 O2
3 and O2 /S2 O3
and applicability of the shrinking sphere model for tests N11 and J12
described in Tables 10 and 11.
showing the eect of the high copper and/or silver content of the material used in test Z4 and B8. Jiang et al.
(1993) achieved a 90% gold extraction in 4 h at 50 C,
compared to <60% in test J4, by using high [Cu(II)] of
0.31 M.
Despite the use of a high temperaturepressure oxidation in test H1 (100 kPa O2 /200C) with Cu(NH3 )2
4 ,
the initial rate was much lower than that in tests B8 and
Z4, leading to 75% Au extraction in 1 h. This clearly
shows the role of thiosulphate in tests B8 and Z4 compared to H1. Nevertheless, the overall gold extraction in
Z4
Gold Extraction
J11
H1
80%
60%
J4
W1
K3
40%
J11
J4
Z4
A3
B8
W1
K3
H1
U1
A3
U1
20%
0%
0
4
5
Time / hours
0.2
2/3
1-3(1-X) +2(1-X)
W1
0.2
K3
Slope 8 x 10
R2 = 0.98
0.1
-6
0.1
799
Acknowledgements
0.0
0
5000
10000
15000
Time / s
20000
25000
Fig. 16. Applicability of the shrinking sphere model with product layer
for gold extraction data in Tests W1 and K3 described in Tables 10 and
11.
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