Extraction of thin-deposited gold from pyrite and pyrrhotite ores

Abstract

As the gold mining industry develops, the processing of primary ores, among which sulfide ores are becoming more and more important, is increasing every year. On the other hand, in the beneficiation of non-ferrous metal ores, some gold is lost in sulfide flotation tailings and to recover it, in some cases these tailings must be subjected to additional hydrometallurgical treatment by cyanidation. The practice of modern gold recovery plants shows that in many cases sulphide ores and concentrates are resistant to hydrometallurgical treatment. Attempts to extract such gold from sulphide concentrate by conventional hydrometallurgical routes are often very inefficient. Despite the use of intensive repeated treatment, the residual gold content in tailings is very high and in some cases reaches 20-25 g/t. All this requires a more in-depth analysis of the reasons for the persistence of gold associated with sulfides. The proposed work aims to summarize and analyze the results of the study of some sulfide (pyrite and pyrrhotite) ores. Most of the experimental studies used in this paper were obtained during technological tests of the treatment of gold-bearing pyrite and pyrrhotite ores in the metallurgical laboratory of the Mining Institute in 1950- 1953.