EXTRACTIVE METALLURGY OF GOLD

3. Processing of gold ores

Fathi Habashi
Laval University, Quebec City, Canada
Fathi.Habashi@arul.ulaval.ca

TREATMENT OF GOLD ORES

 Alluvial deposits may be concentrated further by gravity

methods and the concentrates are usually melted and
refined.
 In past centuries amalgamation was universally used,
but due to the toxicity of mercury the process has been
abandoned.
 When gravity methods are not suitable for obtaining a
concentrate then the ore is leached usually by cyanide
solution. Chlorination methods were formerly used but
abandoned in favour of cyanidation.

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 Veins associated with quartz and various
sulfides known as reefs must be crushed
and finely ground to liberate the minerals
prior to leaching.
 Leaching can be conducted in heaps or in
agitated tanks.

Heap leaching
 In heap leaching the ore is crushed, and
transported on impervious pads where the
cyanide solution is sprinkled on top of the heap
and percolates through the ore dissolving the
gold.
 The gold-bearing solution is collected at the
base of the leach pad then is pumped to the
recovery plant where suspended solids are
removed.
 The process is cheap but slow.

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Heap leaching

Leaching in agitated tanks

 When agitated tanks are used the slurry
flows from one tank to the other
continuously.
 In the last tank the reaction should be
complete.

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 In the recovery plant gold is precipitated
by zinc or enriched on activated charcoal
then the strip solution is electrolyzed.
 A variety of methods are combined
depending on the ore treated.
 Bleed solutions must be treated before
disposal to avoid contaminating the
environment.

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Refractory gold ores

 Sometimes economic grinding is not enough to

liberate the gold.
 In such cases, the ore is known as a refractory ore
because it does not respond to cyanidation, and
therefore it must be chemically treated to liberate the
gold prior to leaching.
 Two methods are used:
- thermal oxidation [roasting]
- aqueous oxidation [leaching].

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 Certain refractory ores contain organic matter
which causes problems during the recovery
step.
 In this case thermal oxidation must be used
since aqueous oxidation is not enough to
destroy the organic matter.
 Thermal oxidation has the problem of dealing
with sulfur dioxide emission.

Thermal oxidation

 Gold occurs in many deposits encapsulated in

pyrite, FeS2, or arsenopyrite FeAsS, crystals.
 Pyrite and arsenopyrite are different from other
sulfide minerals since they contain the disulfide
ion, S22–.

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Pyrite
 In pyrite, the iron atoms
are in a face-centered
cubic arrangement with
pairs of the sulfur atoms
located on the cube
diagonals.

Arsenopyrite,
 In arsenopyrite, the iron atoms are also in a face-
centered cubic arrangement like in pyrite but half
of the diagonal positions are occupied by pairs of
the sulfur atoms and the other half by pairs of
arsenic atoms.

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 Marcasite is another crystalline form of pyrite in
which the iron atoms occupy a body-centered
cubic lattice with pairs of sulfur atoms on the
diagonals.

 The presence of disulfide ions is manifested on

heating the minerals in absence of air: pyrite loses
an atom of sulfur, while arsenopyrite loses an
atom of arsenic:
FeS2 → FeS + S
FeAsS → FeS + As

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 Thermal oxidation of pyrite and arsenopyrite
containing gold is usually conducted in a fluidized bed
reactor. This usually creates either environmental or
economical problems to convert SO2 to sulfuric acid:
FeS2 + 7/2O2 → Fe2O3 + 2SO2
 If oxidation of arsenopyrite is conducted in a limited
supply of air the arsenious oxide, As2O3, is formed
which sublimes already at 218°C and can be separated
from the gas stream in the filtration units:
As2S3 + 9/2O2 → As2O3 + 3SO2

 In the presence of excess air, however, arsenic

oxide, As2O5, is formed, which is nonvolatile and
melts at 315°C:
As2S3 + 11/2O2 → As2O5 + 3SO2
 This oxide combines with any ferric oxide in the
ore to form ferric arsenate, FeAsO4:
Fe2O3 + As2O5 → 2FeAsO4

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 Oxidation of sulfides is an exothermic process. In
some cases, however, the heat generated is not
enough to sustain the reaction and extra heat has
to be supplied by burning a fuel.

Fluidized-bed furnace
 A fluidized-bed furnace
consists of a large vertical
brick-lined steel cylindrical
vessel into which the air or
oxygen-enriched air is blown
beneath a perforated steel
grate at the base.
 The powdered solids are
admitted at one side by a
screw conveyor, and the
reaction product
continuously overflow from
another opening.

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Characteristics
 There is a minimum velocity of the gas which effects fluidization; below
this value no fluidization takes place. As the gas velocity increases the
pressure drop increases gradually until a constant value is reached when
fluidization starts. This is the minimum velocity to achieve fluidization. If
the velocity of gas increases greatly, the solids will be blown out of
furnace.
 A fluidized bed behaves in a manner similar to a boiling liquid.
 Because of the intense gas–solid contact, oxidation is extremely rapid.
This permits close control of reaction temperature thus preventing any
local overheating or fusion of the solids.
 Gases leaving the bed at the top usually carry an appreciable amount of
dust. This is separated in cyclones and collected as product. Dust losses
can be minimized by pelletizing the feed material. In some cases, all the
solid product is allowed to entrain the gases to the cyclone where it is
separated.
 The reaction has first to be started by an auxiliary flame, which is then
extinguished when the reaction proceeds.
 The temperature is usually controlled by inserting a cooling coil in the
furnace, injecting water directly, or recycling a part of the cooled product.

Aqueous oxidation: bioleaching

 Certain microorganisms known as Thiobacillus

thiooxidans and Thiobacillus ferrooxidans
isolated from mine water and others isolated from
sulfur-bearing hot springs are capable of
accelerating the rate of oxidation of sulfide
minerals.

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 These bacteria, known as autotrophic bacteria can
also accelerate the oxidation of elemental sulfur
and ferrous ion. They are minute, unicellular
microscopic organisms 0.5–2 mm in size that
reproduce by binary fission.
 Since they utilize oxygen for growth, they are
classified as aerobic bacteria.

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 In industrial leaching operation where the
continuous flow of leach solution provides
nutrient and a balanced environment, the
microorganisms multiply following the
logarithmic law:
 n = n0ekt
where n0 is their initial number, n their number at
time t, and k is a constant. A leach solution in a
heap leaching operation may contain as many as
10 million microorganisms per mL.

Autotrophic bacteria
 They must have oxygen to carry out their
function, i.e., the oxidation of mineral substances
with release of energy which is necessary for their
growth.
 They utilize CO2 as the principal source of carbon
required for the synthesis of organic compounds
composing the cell.

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• They absorb certain nutrient from solution, e.g.,
PO43– ions that are necessary for their metabolic
function.
• They have resistance to high concentrations of
metal ions in solution which are usually toxic to
most other forms of life.
• They adapt to live and grow in strongly acidic
environments (pH 1.5–3).
• They are destroyed by light, particularly
ultraviolet light.

 Their maximum activity for Thiobacillus ferrooxidans

occurs at 35°C while for those isolated from sulfur-
bearing hot springs (the thermophilic bacteria), the
temperature may be as high as 85°C.
 Below these temperatures they are dormant while above,
they are destroyed.
 They catalyze the oxidation process:
MS(s) → M2+(aq) + S2–(aq)
S2– + 2O2 → SO42–
FeS2 + 7/2O2 + H2O → Fe2+ + 2SO42– + 2H+

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 The adherence of the microorganisms on the
sulfide surface makes possible the rapid oxidation
of S2– ions liberated by the mineral.

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 Leaching is usually conducted in agitated tanks.
excessive amounts of sulfuric acid and ferrous
sulfate that must be neutralized before disposal.

Aqueous oxidation: pressure

leaching
 Leaching of pyrite under pressure to liberate
gold is conducted on large scale in many
plants.
 A pressure leaching plant consists of ore feed
tank, pre-heater, high pressure piston pump,
autoclave, and flash tank.
 The reaction is fast - - few hours instead of
few days as in bioleaching.

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Barrick’s pressure
leaching plant for refractory gold ore at Elko,
Nevada

Barrick’s pressure leaching plant

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 Capacity Number of
Start up Plant Location Owner Feed Medium
t/d autoclaves
1985 McLaughlin Homestake ore acid 2700 3
USA USA
1986 San Bento Genmin concentrate acid 240 2
Brazil S. Africa
1988 Mercur, Utah American ore alkaline 680 1
USA Barrick
Canada
1989 Getchell First Miss ore acid 2730 3
USA Gold
1990 Goldstrike American ore acid 1360 1
Nevada, USA Barrick
Canada
1991 Goldstrike American ore acid 5450 3
Nevada, USA Barrick
Canada
1991 Porgera, Papua Placer concentrate acid 1350 3
New Guinea Dome
Canada
1991 Campbell Placer concentrate acid 70 1
Canada Dome
Canada
1992 Con Nerco concentrate --- 90 1
Lihir Minerals
1993 Goldstrike American ore acid 11580 6
USA Barrick
Canada
1994 Porgera, Papua Placer concentrate acid 2700 6
New Guinea Dome
Canada
1997 Lihir, Papua Rio Tinto --- --- --- 3
New Guinea

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