Research of biochemical gold recovery method using high-arsenic raw materials

Abstract

This article contains the results of experiments to recover gold from complex mineral raw materials containing more than 15 % arsenic. Laboratory tests showed that standard cyanidation recovers only 26,4 % of gold into the solution. Additional oxidizing reagents used increase the leaching efficiency and enable to recover more than 40 % of gold during subsequent cyanidation. The efficiency has been established for replacement of cyanide with thiourea and thiosulfate solutions. 79,5 %, i.e. the maximum recovery rate, was found in the experiment with preliminary oxidation with T. Ferrooxidans, a bacterial culture, followed by leaching with a thiourea solution.

Keywords

• hydrometallurgy
• biochemical method
• arsenic
• gold
• recovery