Gold Leaching from an Auriferous Ore by Alkaline Thiosulfate–Glycine–Copper Solution

Abstract

The thiosulfate–glycine–copper system has emerged as a promising alternative for gold recovery, offering significant advantages over cyanidation and ammoniacal thiosulfate leaching. Recognizing the limitations of thiosulfate degradation in ammoniacal systems, this study focused on optimizing the thiosulfate–glycine–copper system for gold recovery using an auriferous ore with (10 g t−1) of Au. The ore was associated with aluminosilicates such as grossular (64%) and clinochlore (12%). Leaching conditions were systematically varied, including thiosulfate (0.5–1 M), glycine (0.3–1.75 M), copper sulfate (2–10 mM), pH (9.3–10.5), temperature (20–60 °C), 6 h, and potassium permanganate concentrations (0.004–0.04 M), and dosing intervals were also optimized. Thus, the best conditions were thiosulfate (0.7 M), glycine (1.75 M), copper sulfate (5 mM), pH 9.3, 60 °C, and permanganate addition every 2 h. This system achieved 89.3% gold recovery in just 6 h, comparable to cyanidation (89.8% in 24 h) and ammoniacal thiosulfate (58% in 6 h), but without generating toxic effluents, such as in the cyanidation process. Additionally, a gold dissolution mechanism was proposed, highlighting glycine’s role in stabilizing cupric ions and enhancing thiosulfate efficiency. This study underscores the thiosulfate–glycine–copper system as a sustainable and effective method for gold recovery.

Keywords

• thiosulfate
• glycine
• gold
• leaching
• eco-friendly
• adsorption