Preparation of pyrite-arsenopyrite concentrate for gold leaching through the use of polyreagent complexes

Abstract

The article focuses on the causes of refractoriness of sulfide ore stock with superdispersed gold inclusions. In order to increase gold recovery, a hypothesis about effective (peroxide) preparation of refractory raw materials in the process of leaching has been described. The author focuses on theoretical justification of the physicalchemical model and the two-stage mechanism of oxidation (photoelectrochemical and bacterial) of material using microorganisms Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans. A scheme of two-staged (physicochemical and bacterial) oxidation was developed. It is based on photoelectrochemical effects for the leaching of gold from refractory materials. It is shown that photoelectrochemical pre-oxidation makes it possible to increase development of the mineral matrix with its further bacterial oxidation. It also helps to increase the efficiency of invisible gold extraction from sulfide ores. Laboratory tests have been performed on the combined oxidation scheme on electroactivation carbon-in-leach of invisible gold from the Kokpatas deposit’s sulfide ores. The authors present the results of the laboratory tests of the activation methods for impacting upon the refractory ores before metal leaching, which prove the efficiency of such non-traditional methods for developing mineral matrix. Gold extraction using the combined technology of sulfide and arsenopyrite oxidation increases by 18%.

Keywords

• refractory ores
• pyrite
• arsenopyrite
• invisible gold
• physical and chemical oxidation and bacterial oxidation
• polyreagent schemes
• reactive oxygen
• electrochemical and photochemical processes