SEQUENTIAL EXTRACTION OF SUBSTANCES WITH KNOWN Au SPECIATION – AN EXPERIMENTAL DATA

Abstract

A study has been conducted on the features of distriburion of Au among the fractions of a 7-step sequential extraction procedure using model substances that are similar in composition to natural organic matter from the dispersion train of sulfide tailings. Use has been made of model substances with known Au speciations: bulk native gold, nanoscale native gold, Au-containing pyrite, humic acids, and Fe(III) oxides/hydroxides, which served as the basis for preparing mixtures with low-Au filler substances (quartz, limestone, humic acids, Fe(III) oxides/hydroxides).It has been stated that several Au species are leached in one fraction during sequential extraction. Nanoscale Au0 and gold bound to the organic matter are leached together in easily oxidizable (organic) fraction; gold bound to Fe(III) compounds and Au complexes chemisorbed on the surface of other minerals (sulfides, aluminosilicates) are leached in reducible (hydroxides) fraction; "invisible" gold in sulfides, nanoscale Au0 and, partially, >1 μm-seized bulk Au0 are leached in hardly oxidizable (sulfidic) fraction. Bulk native gold is leached predominantly in residual fraction. Mobile species are Au bound to water-soluble organic compounds and complexes of ionic Au desorbed from the surface of minerals.

Keywords

• sequential extraction
• speciation
• gold nanoparticles
• "invisible" gold
• mobile gold species