Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration

https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-023-00854-7

REVIEW

Overview of the Challenges and Opportunities in Processing Complex

Gold‑Copper Ores
Sospeter P. Maganga1 · Alphonce Wikedzi1 · Mussa D. Budeba1 · Samwel V. Manyele2

Received: 21 February 2023 / Accepted: 21 September 2023

© Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Inc. 2023

Abstract
The present study provides an overview of the challenges and opportunities in processing complex gold-copper ores. The
systematic literature review was conducted using Scopus database and seven-step methodological approach. The study
indicates that the major challenges in processing complex gold-copper ores through the conventional cyanidation method
include (1) increase in cyanide consumption; (2) increase in cyanide destruction cost; (3) low gold recovery; (4) decrease
in adsorption efficiency; (5) decrease in electrowinning efficiency, and (6) difficulties in the measurement of free cyanide
concentration in the leaching system. Moreover, the study indicates that several methods have been developed and some
have been implemented in the mining industry for processing complex gold-copper ores. This includes ore segregation,
pre-aeration, pre-treatment methods (e.g., ammonia), alternative lixiviants (e.g., thiosulfate, thiocyanate, glycine), cyanide
destruction methods, and cyanide and copper recovery technologies. The study concluded that using lixiviant mixtures (e.g.,
cyanide-glycine), pre-treatment with environmentally friendly reagents (e.g., glycine) and the integrated membrane-based
process (SuCy process) are new directions in processing complex gold-copper ores. However, more investigations are required
to advance these processes to a commercial scale.

Keywords Complex gold-copper ores · Solubility of copper minerals · Gold leaching lixiviants · Processing gold-copper
ores · Lixiviant mixtures · Cyanide and copper recovery strategies

1 Introduction Among the gold extraction method in the mining indus-

The global decrease in ore mineral grades and increase in ore
mineralogical complexity has triggered the modern mining
industry and research communities to search for efficient
methods of processing ores which were initially considered
uneconomic [1, 2]. Gold-bearing copper minerals are com-
mon occurrences in many gold deposits and are generally
considered complex due to the presence of cyanide and
oxygen-consuming minerals, which significantly affect the
process efficiency in terms of gold recovery and reagent con-
sumption [3–5].
* Sospeter P. Maganga
engsocy@gmail.com
1
Department of Mining and Mineral Processing
Engineering, University of Dar es Salaam, P.O. Box 35131,
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
2
Department of Chemical and Process Engineering,
University of Dar es Salaam, P.O. Box 35131, Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania
try, cyanidation remained predominant for more than 130
years since was patented by MacArthur and the Forrest
brothers in the 1880s [6]. The key aspects which make cya-
nide widely used in the mining industry for gold extraction
include low cost, process simplicity, adaptability, low redox
potential, and chemical stability [7–9]. However, the major
reported limitations of cyanide in gold leaching include high
toxicity and its inefficiency for gold recovery from complex
and refractory ores [7, 10, 11]. Other challenges in process-
ing gold-copper ores through the conventional cyanidation
method include increase in cyanide consumption; increase
in cyanide destruction cost; decrease in gold adsorption
efficiency; decrease in gold electrowinning efficiency; and
difficulties in measurement of free cyanide concentration in
the leaching system [12].
The search for alternative lixiviant to cyanide began in
1901 with the invention of the Hunt process (i.e., ammonia-
cyanide leaching) [13]. Thereafter, several alternative lixivi-
ants to cyanide have been investigated including thiosulfate,
thiourea, thiocyanate, ammonia, bisulfide, chloride, bromide,

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 Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration

iodide, and glycine with limited commercial success. With
exception to thiosulfate which has reached commercial-scale
application for gold extraction from carbonaceous refractory
ore at Goldstrike mine, Nevada, which is operated by Bar-
rick Gold Corporation [14, 15], many of these gold leaching
lixiviants are still in early development stage [1].
Following to the inefficiency of conventional cyanidation
process in processing complex gold-copper ores, the present
study aims to identify processing challenges and provide
new directions in the treatment of complex gold-copper ores.
It covers classification of complex gold ores, challenges in
processing gold-copper ores, solubility of copper minerals in
cyanide solution, characteristics of gold leaching lixiviants,
processing techniques of gold-copper ores, and potential
opportunities in processing gold-copper ores.
2 Scope and Approach
This study focused on complex gold ores (gold-copper
ores), while other types of gold ores such as free-milling
and refractory were not part of this study. The study topic
was selected because of the global trend on decrease in ore
mineral grade (e.g., gold) and increase in ore mineralogical
complexity. Another reason was based on the availability
of such complex gold-copper ores in Tanzania. The Scopus
database (https://​www.​scopus.​com, Elsevier) was used to
conduct systematic overview of the challenges and oppor-
tunities in processing complex gold-copper ores. The seven-
step methodological approach was employed, whereby the
publications were searched on November 7, 2022, by using
inclusion and exclusion factors as shown in Fig. 1. A total
of 13,323 documents were obtained after searching within
all fields using the following keywords: “gold-copper ores”
OR “copper-gold ores” OR “complex gold ores” OR “gold
ores.” The documents were reduced to 10,513 by limiting
publication year from 2000. The number of documents
was further reduced to 2685 after limiting subject area to
engineering. Furthermore, the number of documents was
reduced to 2041 after excluding conference papers, confer-
ence reviews, books, book chapters, data papers, editorials,
and letters. Moreover, the number was reduced to 1962 and
1694 after limiting source type to journals and language to
English, respectively. After going through the titles of 1694
documents, articles that were not relevant to the current
study were screened out, and finally 64 articles remained
for detailed reading.
The detailed reading of screened articles was conducted
and information were organized into Microsoft word by
summarizing key issues from each study into the problem
addressed, methods used, key results, presentation of results,
and significance of the study to the present research. This
approach help gathering of the main information from dif-
ferent studies for further analysis. The information was

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7

Keywords Literature
Screening Organization Synthesizing Structure Write up
searching

Microsoft word Combination of Logic flow, tabular

Thematic approach
information and pictorial forms
Scopus Database
N = 13,323

Filter by publication period (2000 to 2022)

N = 10,513

Filter by subject area (Engineering)

N = 2,685

Filter by document type (Articles and reviews)

N = 2,041

Filter by source type (Journals)

N = 1,962

Filter by language (English)

N = 1,694

Filter by titles

N = 64

Fig. 1  The seven-step methodological approach used in this study

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Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration

analyzed, synthesized, and organized into major themes and gold-copper ores. The detail discussion of these issues is
presented in logic, tabular, and pictorial forms. presented in the “Discussion” section.

3 Literature Review 4 Analysis and Discussion of Past Research

Works
The literature contains various information in processing
complex gold-copper ores. For instance, the classification of 4.1 Classification of Complex Gold Ores
complex gold ores into cyanide-consuming minerals, oxy-
gen-consuming minerals, and preg-robbing materials was Complex gold ores are defined as gold ores which give an
provided by the previous investigators [16, 17]. The solubil- acceptable gold recovery only when significantly higher
ity of copper minerals in cyanide solution varies from one amount of chemical or material are added (e.g., cyanide,
mineral to another and has impacts on gold recovery and rea- oxygen, carbon) [17]. These ores are often classified based
gent consumption in cyanidation process [12, 18]. Further, on cyanide-consuming minerals, oxygen-consuming min-
the literature indicates that processing of gold-copper ores erals, or preg-robbing behavior [16, 17]. The term preg-
through conventional cyanidation is often associated with robbing refers to the phenomenon whereby certain material
several challenges such as increase in cyanide consumption (e.g., carbonaceous material) in the ore can uptake gold from
[13]; increase in cyanide destruction cost [12]; low gold the pregnant solution, thus compete with activated carbon on
recovery [19]; decrease in gold adsorption efficiency [20]; gold recovery [40]. Fig. 2 shows the three characteristics of
decrease in electrowinning efficiency [21]; and difficulties in complex gold ores. The common cyanide-consuming miner-
the measurement of free cyanide concentration [22]. als are copper minerals, although Pb, Zn, and Fe minerals
Moreover, several processing options of gold-copper ores have been reported to consume cyanide by previous inves-
have been developed and implemented in the mining indus- tigators [4]. On the other hand, pyrrhotite and pyrite-mar-
try. This include ores segregation, pre-aeration, pre-leaching, casite represents the common oxygen-consuming minerals,
lixiviant mixtures, cyanide destruction processes such as whereas native carbon, kerogen, iron-containing minerals
INCO ­SO2/air and cyanide and copper recovery processes (e.g., pyrite and chalcopyrite), silicates, and clay represent
like sulfidization, acidification, recycling, and thickening preg-robbing materials [40, 41]. Among the preg-robbing
(SART) process [1, 6, 12, 23–29].
In addition, the literature has shown that each gold leach-
ing lixiviant has different operating conditions of pH and
redox potentials for efficient process performance [1, 30].
Also, each gold leaching lixiviant has unique features and
limitations for gold processing [4–9, 14, 26, 27, 31–39].
More important, the use of lixiviant mixtures or environ-
mentally friendly additives has shown potential for reduc-
ing reagent consumption and improving gold recovery
particularly in processing gold-copper ores [4, 5, 26, 27].
Similarly, the use of integrated membrane process (SuCy
process) has indicated a potential for reducing plant size up
to 90%, capital cost by over 25% and enhancing clarification
effectiveness compared to the conventional SART process
during cyanide and copper recovery [29]. Table 1 shows
the summary of key issues from the literature on complex Fig. 2  Classification of complex gold ores

Table 1  Summary of key issues S/N Key issues References

from the literature on complex
gold-copper ores
1 Classification of complex gold ores [16, 17 ]
2 Solubility of copper minerals in cyanide solution [12, 18]
3 Challenges of copper in gold ore leaching [12, 13, 22, 24, 20]
4 Characteristics of gold leaching lixiviants [4, 7, 14, 32, 36, 34]
5 Importance of lixiviant mixtures in gold-copper ore leaching [4–6, 27, 2639]
6 Processing techniques of gold-copper ores [1, 12, 24, 29, 2823, ]

13

materials, native carbon is the major concern in gold ores
due to the high degree of gold adsorption from the leach
solution [40]. The present study is focused on gold-copper
ores because about 20% of all gold deposits have copper
mineralization [23].
4.2 Challenges in the Processing of Gold‑Copper
Ores
4.2.1 Increase in Cyanide Consumption
Cyanide consumption is one of the criteria that dictate the
economics of the cyanidation process. Muir [13] reported
that every 1% of reactive copper present in gold ore may
consume up to 30 kg of NaCN/t of ore. When the ore con-
tains high soluble copper minerals such as covellite, the
cyanide consumption can reach up to 51.5 kg/t of ore due to
the formation of thiocyanate and copper cyanide complexes
[24]. On the other hand, the typical cyanide consumption
observed in agitated leaching systems varies from 0.25 to
0.75 kg/t [42].
4.2.2 Increase in Cyanide Destruction Cost
The use of a high concentration of cyanide to offset the
impact of copper on gold recovery often increases the
concentration of cyanide in the leach tailings. To meet the
international standards and regulation, the threshold limit
of the weak acid dissociable (WAD) cyanide in the leach
tailings before disposal to the tailings storage facility should
be below 50 ppm which requires a cyanide destruction unit.
This adversely increases the operational cost of the cyanida-
tion plant [12].
4.2.3 Low Gold Recovery
The presence of copper minerals in gold ores often has the
tendency of decreasing the gold recovery during cyanidation
due to copper dissolution and formation of copper cyanide
complexes which creates a deficiency of free cyanide in the
solution for reaction with gold particles [4, 5]. Moreover,
the surface of copper minerals such as chalcopyrite under
cyanide deficient conditions acts as preg-robbers for gold
thus decreasing the gold concentration in the solution [43].
4.2.4 Decrease in Gold Adsorption Efficiency
The three types of copper cyanocomplexes: dicyanocuprate
(I) (i.e., Cu(CN)2−), tricyanocuprate (I), (i.e., Cu(CN)32−),
and tetracyanocuprate (I) (i.e., Cu(CN)43−) can be formed
during the cyanidation process of gold-copper ores depend-
ing on the solution pH and cyanide concentration. The
adsorption affinity has been reported to follow the following
13
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration
order: Cu(CN)2− > Cu(CN)32− > Cu(CN)43− [23]. The
Cu(CN)32− is the predominant species under the practical
carbon adsorption conditions (i.e., at solution pH of > 9
and CN/Cu molar ratio of > 4) and has been recognized as
the main competitor for gold adsorption on activated carbon
[20]. The adsorption of copper cyanocomplexes on activated
carbon usually displaces gold, thereby increasing gold losses
in the solution [12].
4.2.5 Decrease in Electrowinning Efficiency
Aurodicyanide complex (Au(CN)2−) and tricyanocuprate (I)
(Cu(CN)32−) have close reduction potentials (i.e., −0.672
V and −0.760 V, respectively) at metal ions concentration
of ­10−4 mol/dm3, sodium cyanide concentration of 0.2%,
and sodium hydroxide concentration of 2% [21]. Under high
overpotential conditions or when copper concentration is
relatively higher than the gold concentration (e.g., 200 ppm
for copper versus 5 ppm for gold), co-deposition of copper
during gold electrowinning may occur at the cathode which
adversely decreases current efficiency, bullion purity, and
influences the morphology and adhesion of the plated gold
[21].
4.2.6 Difficulties in the Measurement of Free Cyanide
Concentration
The common method for measuring free cyanide concen-
tration in gold leaching plants is through titration of solu-
tion with silver nitrate using rhodamine indicator [12]. This
approach overestimates free cyanide concentration in the
solution when the copper content increases since it fails to
differentiate between free cyanide and copper cyanide com-
plexes during the measurement, thereby creating difficulty
in regulating free cyanide concentration in gold leaching and
as a result may lead to gold losses [12, 22].
4.3 Solubility of Copper Minerals in Cyanide
Solution
The broad understanding of copper mineralogy in the ore is
an important aspect during processing of gold-copper ores
since copper minerals have different solubility in cyanide
solution that yield different responses on gold recovery and
reagent consumption. Table 2 shows various types of cop-
per minerals and their corresponding solubility in cyanide
solution. It can be observed that native copper, secondary
copper minerals (such as chalcocite and covellite), copper
oxide, and copper carbonate minerals have high solubility
in cyanide solution compared to chalcopyrite, chrysocolla
and tetrahedrite. This implies that the presence of high solu-
ble copper minerals even at nuisance level has a significant
impact on gold recovery and reagent consumption which
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration

Table 2  Solubility of copper minerals in 0.1% NaCN solution [12] of different species present in aqueous solution. It is often
Mineral Formula Percentage of cop-
presented by using Pourbaix diagrams (i.e., Eh-pH dia-
per dissolved in 24 grams). Fig. 3 shows an Eh-pH diagram for typical oper-
hours ating conditions of different gold leaching lixiviants. With
23 ° C 45 ° C the exception of cyanide, most gold leaching lixiviants have
a narrow working window particularly for redox potential,
Azurite 2CuCO3Cu(OH)2 94.5 100 which may require close control of the process. In addi-
Malachite 2CuCO3(OH)2 90.2 100 tion to that, the operating redox conditions of gold lixiviant
Chalcocite Cu2S 90.2 100 mixtures (e.g., cyanide-glycine and thiosulfate-glycine) are
Covellite CuS 95.6a - scarce in the literature, making it difficult in understanding
Native copper Cu 90.0 100 the stability behavior of different complexes formed during
Cuprite Cu2O 85.5 100 gold leaching.
Bornite FeS. ­2Cu2S. CuS 70.0 100
Enargite Cu3AsS4 65.8 75.1 4.4.2 Stability of Gold Complex Ion in Different Leaching
Tetrahedrite Cu12Sb4S13 21.9 43.7 Lixiviants
Chrysocolla CuSiO3. ­H2O 11.8 15.7
Chalcopyrite CuFeS2 5.6 8.2 The stability constant refers to the equilibrium constant
aValue was obtained at 5.15g NaCN per g Cu at room temperature for the formation of metal complex species in an aqueous
solution. It is the measure of the strength of the interaction
between a metal and a ligand. The higher the value, the more
ultimately affects the process economics. The threshold limit stable the species in an aqueous solution. Table 3 shows the
of less than 0.5% Cu is generally considered effective for stability constant of Au (I) complexes in different lixivi-
direct cyanidation and has been applied at Red Dome Mine ants follow the following order: Au(CN)2− > Au(HS)2− >
in Australia [23]. However, this depends on the type of cop- Au(S2O3)23− > Au(NH3)2+ > Au(NH2CSNH2)2+ > Au(I)2− >
per mineralogy as Jiang et al. [18] reported that the pres- Au(H2NCH2COO)2− > Au(SCN)2− > ­AuBr2− > ­AuCl2−.
ence of high soluble copper greater than 0.1% Cu dramati- Since gold occurs in association with other metals in the ore,
cally decreases gold recovery below 80% and significantly it is also important to investigate the stability of other metal
increases reagent consumption above 9 kg NaCN/t of ore. complexes during gold leaching.

4.4 Characteristics of Gold Leaching Lixiviants
4.4.1 Typical Redox Potential and pH Conditions for Gold
Leaching Lixiviants
Redox potential (Eh) and solution pH play a great role in
gold leaching particularly in describing the relative stability
4.4.3 Unique Properties and Limitations of Gold Leaching
Lixiviants
This section presents the unique properties and limitations
of gold leaching lixiviants. The term unique properties in
the present study refer to specific features of lixiviant that
make it useful for application within the mining industry.

Fig. 3  Eh-pH diagram for typi-

cal operating conditions for gold
leaching lixiviants. Redrawn
after Medina and Anderson [1]

13

Table 3  Stability constant of various gold species [1, 44]
S/N Gold species Stability constant
1 Au(CN)2− 38.3
2 Au(HS)2− 29.9
3 Au(S2O3)23− 28
4 Au(NH3)2+ 26
5 Au(NH2CSNH2)2+ 23.3
6 Au(I)2− 18.6
7 Au(H2NCH2COO)2− 18.6
8 Au(SCN)2− 16.98
9 AuBr2− 12
10 AuCl2− 9.1
Likewise, the term limitations refer to constraints that
hinder the application of a particular lixiviant within the
mining industry. It covers a broad spectrum from environ-
mental, technical, and economic aspects. Table 4 shows
the summary of unique properties and limitations of gold
leaching lixiviants from past research works. It is worth
noting that, except for cyanide and thiosulfate which have
reached commercial-scale application, many of the gold
leaching lixiviants in Table 4 are still in the development
stage.
4.5 Processing Techniques of Gold‑Copper Ores
In processing complex gold-copper ores, several process-
ing techniques have been applied in the mining industry
such as ore segregation [23], pre-aeration [24], pre-leach-
ing [23], lixiviant mixtures [4, 5], cyanide destruction
technologies [23], and cyanide and copper recovery tech-
nologies [28]. Each technique is described in detail in the
following paragraphs.
4.5.1 Ore Segregation
Ore segregation technique has been employed to separate
low-grade ores less than 0.5% copper (e.g., Red Dome
Gold Mine in Australia) from high-grade ores. The low-
grade ores are treated by direct cyanidation method, while
the high-grade ores are stockpiled for treatment with flota-
tion method [23]. However, this approach depends on the
type of copper mineralogy in the ore such as high- or low-
soluble copper minerals [18]. On the other hand, the flota-
tion method is suitable for the concentration of primary
copper minerals (e.g., chalcopyrite) while is not efficient
for the concentration of oxide copper minerals due to poor
response on conventional collectors such as xanthates [1].
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Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration
4.5.2 Pre‑aeration
The pre-aeration technique aims to reduce gold passivation
before gold leaching due to the presence of sulfide minerals
in the ore. However, Bas et al. [24] observed that in addition
to increasing gold recovery from 4 to 30%, pre-aeration also
slightly increased cyanide consumption during cyanidation
probably due to oxidation of copper minerals to more reac-
tive forms that reacted with cyanide to form copper cyanide
complexes.
4.5.3 Pre‑leaching
Several reagents such as sulfuric acid, ammonia, and iron
(III) chloride have been tested as pre-leaching reagents
during gold cyanidation with limited success particularly
on the treatment of low-grade and sulfide ores due to high
consumption of reagent, the requirement for neutralization
before cyanidation, and the challenge to recover copper from
leached solution [23]. On the other hand, the study by Tanda
et al. [25] indicated that glycine (i.e., a non-toxic type of
amino acid) is capable of leaching various copper minerals
(e.g., malachite, azurite, and cuprite) at the alkaline condi-
tion with maximum percentage copper extraction above 80%
after 24 h; this can be a potential pre-leaching reagent for
copper minerals before gold cyanidation. However, chry-
socolla and chalcopyrite indicated a slow dissolution rate
below 20% after 24 h. In addition, the study by Torres and
Lapidus [60] indicated that pre-treatment of complex ore (32
g/t Au, 2.81 kg/t Cu, 2.87 kg/t Pb and 167.69 kg/t Fe) with
sodium citrate improved gold recovery from 20 to 70% after
leaching with 0.4 mol/L of thiourea. The pre-treatment con-
ditions used were as follows: particle size between 75 and
150 μm, stirring speed of 400 rpm, solid-to-liquid ratio of
100 g/L, citrate concentration of 0.5 mol/L, peroxide addi-
tion of 0.1 mol/L per hour, and pre-treatment residence time
of 6 h.
4.5.4 Lixiviant Mixtures for Processing Gold‑Copper Ores
The use of lixiviant mixtures for processing gold-copper
ores has been reported from the literature to offer vari-
ous benefits such as reduction of reagent consumption and
improvement of gold recovery. Among the lixiviant mixtures
tested in the literature include cyanide-glycine leaching [4,
5], thiocyanate-glycine leaching [26], and ammonia-cyanide
leaching [6, 24, 61]. The detail of key literatures on gold
leaching with lixiviant mixtures is presented in the follow-
ing paragraphs.
Cyanide‑Glycine Leaching The study by Barani et al. [4] on
leaching polymetallic (Pb-Zn-Cu) gold ore (containing 13
ppm of gold, 0.23% of copper, 1.75% of zinc, and 4.35% of
 Table 4  Unique properties and limitations of gold leaching lixiviants
Lixiviant/stabilizer Unique properties Limitations for industrial application Reference(s)
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration

Cyanide Process simplicity, adaptability, higher chemical stability, low cost, High toxicity, high reagent consumption and low gold recovery for [7–9]
low redox potential, and capability to achieve high gold recovery complex and refractory ores
above 90% for free milling ores
Thiocyanate Excellent selectivity, low toxicity, and slightly higher leaching rate High redox potential (i.e., 600–700 mV), high reagent consumption, [14, 26, 35, 45]
than cyanide and requirement for expensive equipment
Thiosulfate Relatively cheaper than cyanide, non-toxic, slightly higher leaching High reagent consumption, high detoxification cost, and the difficulty [7, 19, 35, 44, 46, 47]
rate than cyanide and capable to recover gold from refractory ore to recover gold from the leach solution using activated carbon
Thiourea Higher leaching rate compared to thiocyanate and thiosulfate High reagent consumption, serious corrosion of equipment under [33–35, 37, 48]
acidic conditions, and high detoxification cost
Bisulfide Can be generated in situ from gold-bearing sulfide minerals Passivation of gold by sulfur species [7]
Ammonia Serves as an auxiliary additive to other lixiviants to reduce reagent High toxicity and slow gold dissolution rate at ambient condition [6, 39]
consumption in cyanide and thiosulfate leaching systems
Chloride Potential for leaching refractory ores, high gold dissolution rate than Weak selectivity of impurities, corrosive, and oxidative nature [9, 34, 38, 49]
many (if not all) lixiviants requires expensive equipment. Also the high cost of chlorine
Iodide High gold dissolution rate than many lixiviants except chloride High cost of iodine [32, 34]
system
Bromide High gold dissolution rate than many lixiviants except iodide and High regent consumption and handling challenges of liquid bromine [34]
chloride system
Glycine Non-toxic, low cost, high stability than bromide, chloride, and Slow gold dissolution rate at ambient conditions [4, 5, 25, 27, 31, 36, 50–57]
thiocyanate system. Also, it can be used as an auxiliary lixiviant
to reduce reagent consumption in cyanide and thiosulfate leaching
systems
Citrate Non-toxic reagent and can be used as an additive (stabilizer of cupric Slow gold extraction (< 5%) in absence of lixiviant (e.g., thiosulfate) [58]
ion) in gold leaching system to reduce lixiviant consumption (e.g.,
thiosulfate)
Sodium dicyanamide Dicyanamide anion can act as a ligand, bridging metal ions to form a Low gold recovery (about 35%), high reagent consumption (about [59]
metal–dicyanamide coordination compound 15 kg/t)

13

lead) indicated that the mixture of cyanide and glycine at
cyanide concentration of 500 ppm and glycine concentra-
tion of 0.5 mol/L reduced cyanide consumption by 66% and
improved gold recovery from 40 (without glycine) to 90%
(with glycine) after 72 h of leaching. Further, the authors
indicated a reduction of cyanide consumption by 80% when
cyanide was reduced to 200 ppm at glycine concentration
of 0.5 mol/L; however, the recovery also dropped by 10%.
This implies that a trade-off between cyanide consumption
and gold recovery must be considered. Furthermore, the
reported glycine concentration of 0.5 mol/L (equivalent to
37.5 g/L) may accelerate high glycine consumption. More
investigation on cyanide-glycine leaching system is required
particularly on reagent consumption, solution chemistry
(i.e., stability of glycine complexes), and effect of different
gold-copper ores.
Thiocyanate‑Glycine Leaching The study by Wu et al. [26]
indicated that leaching of gold-bearing concentrate (with
38.46 ppm Au, 14.52% S, 0.23% Cu, 0.24% Zn, 0.18% Pb)
with the mixture between thiocyanate and glycine decreased
the oxidation of thiocyanate by ferric ion and lowered thio-
cyanate dosage by 25% (i.e., from 0.8 to 0.6 mol/L of thio-
cyanate). The authors reported gold recovery of 93.15% after
3 h when glycine concentration of 5 g/L was added into a
leaching system containing ferric ion concentration of 0.05
mol/L, pH of 2, the temperature of 25 °C, and liquid-to-
solid ratio of 4:1. Despite these remarkable results of fast
leaching rate and gold recovery, the thiocyanate dosage of
0.6 mol/L (equivalent to 45.67 g/L) is still high which may
affect process economics. Further, the high liquid-to-solid
ratio may require the use of larger or many leaching tanks
in the operation which will add to equipment capital cost.
Thiosulfate‑Glycine Leaching Another study by Munive et
al. [27] reported that reagent mixtures between thiosulfate
and glycine helped to reduce thiosulfate consumption by
60% (i.e., from 5.2 to 2.2 g/L of thiosulfate) and achieved
gold recovery of 95% after 24 h. These results were obtained
after leaching gold tailings (containing 0.05 ppm Au, 158
ppm Ag, 0.756% Cu, and 4.48% Zn) at a thiosulfate con-
centration of 20 g/L, glycine concentration of 5 g/L, pH of
11, liquid-to-solid ratio of 1:1, and temperature of 30 °C.
The authors also noted that the benefit resulting from using
glycine was a reduction of thiosulfate consumption rather
than gold recovery.
Ammonia‑Cyanide Leaching The study by Hedjazi and
Monhemius [6] indicated that the addition of ammonia dur-
ing cyanide leaching of gold-copper ore at Gedabek mine
in Azerbaijan helped to reduce copper dissolution by half
(i.e., from 41.9 to 21.1% Cu) and ultimately reduced cyanide
consumption when the copper ore mineralogy was changed
13
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration
from low to high copper grade. The authors reported that
before the change in ore mineralogy, the copper grade was
0.55% Cu, and cyanide consumption was 5.8 kg CN/t of ore
without the addition of ammonia. When the ore mineral-
ogy changed to 0.85% Cu, and ammonia was added into the
leaching system, cyanide consumption increased to only 7.2
kg CN/t of ore. The cyanide consumption was anticipated
to increase dramatically if ammonia could not be added
into the leaching system. On the other hand, the addition of
ammonia into the Gedabek leaching plant was not found to
improve gold recovery (i.e., gold recovery remained constant
at 72.5%).
Another study by Bas et al. [24] on leaching copper-
rich gold ore (56 ppm Au and 1.1% Cu) using mixtures of
ammonia and cyanide indicated both improvements in gold
recovery and cyanide consumption. The authors reported
improvement in gold recovery from 20 (without ammonia)
to 86.7% (with ammonia) at 2 mol/L ammonia, 2.5 g/L
(equivalent to 2500 ppm) sodium cyanide, 500 g/L lead
nitrate, 25% (w/v) solids, and 24 h. Further, gold recovery
of 88% was also reported by the authors using a high con-
centration of cyanide (i.e., 4000 ppm). The application of
ammonia in leaching systems has received little attention
due to health, safety, and environmental concerns [1].
A brief summary of lixiviant mixtures for processing
gold-copper ores is also presented. In this section, lixiviant
mixtures were summarized to gain insight into variation in
process conditions and gold recovery for different types of
gold-copper ores. Table 5 shows a brief summary of lixiviant
mixtures for processing gold-copper ores where key aspects
such as type of material leached, kind of lixiviant mixtures,
optimal conditions attained, the gold recovery, challenges,
and specific remarks are presented. It is worth noting that
lixiviant mixtures have a beneficial effect on the reduction of
reagent consumption and improving gold recovery. However,
fundamental aspects such as reaction mechanism, solution
chemistry, and reaction kinetics during gold leaching using
lixiviant mixtures require further studies.
4.5.5 Cyanide Destruction Technologies
Cyanide destruction technologies involve oxidation of cya-
nide to cyanate (less toxic form) and precipitation of copper
as copper hydroxide [23, 62]. The most widely used tech-
nology for cyanide destruction is the Inco ­SO2/air process
[23]. Other cyanide destruction technologies include Caro’s
acid, hydrogen peroxide, alkaline chlorination, electro-
chemical oxidation, bio-degradation, ultrasonic, and pho-
tolysis [1, 23]. Although cyanide destruction technologies
help to reduce the impact of cyanide on the environment by
complying with international standards such as weak acid
dissociable (WAD) cyanide less than 50 ppm in leaching

Table 5  A brief summary of lixiviant mixtures for processing gold-copper ores
Material leached
Complex gold ore (5.2 ppm Au,
0.1039% Cu, 1.0667% Pb,
0.391% Zn, 2.8193% Fe)
Polymetallic (Pb-Zn-Cu) gold ore Cyanide and glycine
(13 ppm Au, 0.23% Cu, 1.75%
Zn, and 4.35% Pb)
Mine tailings
(0.05 ppm Au, 158 ppm Ag,
0.756% Cu, 4.48% Zn)
Gold-bearing flotation concen-
trates
(38.46 ppm Au, 0.23% Cu, 0.24%
Zn, and 0.18% Pb)
Copper rich gold ore (56 ppm Au
and 1.1% Cu)
13
Lixiviant mixtures Optimal conditions
Cyanide and glycine 2000 ppm NaCN, 0.5 mol/L
glycine, pH 10.5, 25% (w/v)
solids, 1.5% H­ 2O2, 48 h, room
temperature
500 ppm NaCN, 0.5 mol/L gly-
cine, pH 11, 30% (w/v) solids,
2% ­H2O2, 72 h, room tempera-
ture
Thiosulfate and glycine 20 g/L thiosulfate, 5 g/L glycine,
pH of 11, 30 °C, 24 h, liquid-to-
solid ratio of 1:1
Thiocyanate and glycine 0.6 mol/L thiocyanate, 0.06 mol/L
glycine, 0.05 mol/L ferric ion,
liquid-to-solid ratio of 4:1,
leaching time of 3 hours, and
temperature of 30 °C
Ammonia and cyanide 2 mol/L N­ H3, 2500 ppm NaCN,
500 g/L ­PbNO3, 25% (w/v)
solids and 24 h
Gold Challenges
recovery,
[%]
93 Slow gold dissolution in the
absence of cyanide (glycine
reagent alone)
90 Increasing glycine concentration
also increased dissolution of Pb,
Zn, and Fe minerals, thereby
increasing cyanide consumption
95 Difficult to recover gold from
leached solution through acti-
vated carbon
93.15 -Decomposition of ammonium
thiocyanate is inevitable in gold
leaching
-High liquid-to-solid ratio
requires larger or many leaching
tanks
86.7 Health, safety, and environmental
concerns of ammonia
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration
Remarks Reference
Improved gold recovery by about [5]
60%
With glycine, the cyanide con- [4]
sumption was reduced by 80%
With glycine, the thiosulfate con- [27]
sumption was reduced by 60%
-Fast leaching rate [26]
-Thiocyanate decomposition and
thereby dosage decreased by
25% with help of glycine
With ammonia, cyanide consump- [24]
tion was reduced by 37.5%

tailings before disposal, they add operational cost to the
plant especially when high cyanide concentration is used
in the upstream (leaching system) during treatment of gold-
copper ores [12].
4.5.6 Cyanide and Copper Recovery Technologies
The common cyanide and copper recovery technologies
within the mining industry include sulfidization, acidifica-
tion, recycling, and thickening (SART) process; acidifica-
tion, volatilization, and re-neutralization (AVR) process;
activated carbon; ion exchange resin; solvent extraction;
membrane technology; and electrowinning [23, 63]. How-
ever, the majority of these methods are faced with several
challenges including the requirement for clean solution (free
of solids and precipitates) for membrane technologies, resin
blockage and osmotic shock for ion exchange resin, and high
capital cost as well as a requirement for close control of
parameters for the SART process [28]. Following the abil-
ity to recover both cyanide and copper, the SART process is
further discussed in the following paragraphs.
The SART process is used to recover copper and cya-
nide particularly during processing of gold-copper ores. It
uses the fact that excessive cyanide dosage can be applied
to the leaching unit to offset the effect of copper on gold
recovery, and then both cyanide and copper are recovered
on the downstream process to increase process economics
as well as to reduce the environmental impacts. The SART
process involves dissociation of copper cyanide complexes
at low pH (i.e., 4-5) using sulfuric acid in addition to sulfide
ions (either in the form of NaHS, N ­ a2S or H
­ 2S) to form free
cyanide and copper precipitates as shown in Eq. (1) [12, 64].
2Cu(CN)3 −2 + 3H2 SO4 + S−2 ↔ Cu2 S(s) + 6HCN (aq) + 3SO4 −2
(1)
Fig. 4 shows a simplified block diagram of the SART pro-
cess for recovery of cyanide and copper. The SART process
receives the feed (cyanide solution) from the leach thickener
overflow where is acidified and sulfidized to produce copper
Fig. 4  Simplified block diagram of SART process. Modified from Estay et al. [27]
13
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration
sulfide precipitates which are removed, filtered, and dried
to obtain the sealable copper product. On the other hand,
the dissolved HCN is neutralized with lime (CaO) at a pH
of 10.5 to produce gypsum ­(CaSO4. ­H2O) and calcium cya-
nide (Ca(CN)2). The gypsum is disposed of, while calcium
cyanide is recycled to the leaching unit.
Apart from the benefits of the SART process, several
challenges may limit its application within the mining indus-
try. This include high capital cost due to the requirement of
thickeners, filters, and driers; co-precipitation of gold with
copper; oxidation of ­Cu2S to CuS; copper losses in over-
flow and re-dissolution of copper sulfide to copper cyanide
complexes; excessive sulfide consumption; and close control
of parameters particularly solution pH, residence time, and
sulfide dosage in the sulfidization reactor [12, 28]. The study
by Estay et al. [29] attempted to replace the conventional
clarification equipment (thickeners) in the SART process
with membrane-based unit operations in order to minimize
copper losses in the thickener overflow due to poor clarifica-
tion. The new process (SuCy process) consist of microfil-
tration to clarify copper precipitates, gas-filled membrane
absorption to produce concentrated cyanide solution, and
membrane ultrafiltration to clarify gypsum generated in
the neutralization stage. The authors also reported that the
novel membrane-based process (SuCy process) for cyanide
and copper recovery reduced the plant size up to 90% and
the capital cost by over 25%. Thus, more investigations are
required to upscale this technology.
4.6 Potential Opportunities in Processing
Gold‑Copper Ores
Fig. 5 shows the summary of processing options for gold-
copper ores and corresponding potential opportunities for
improvement. Three opportunities were identified in the pre-
sent review which requires further research particularly on
optimization of process parameters, understanding of solu-
tion chemistry (i.e., stability of metal complexes and redox
potential), reaction mechanism, reaction kinetics, reduction
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration

Reduction of soluble copper in Minimization of copper solubility

cyanidation feed during leaching

Ammoniacal
Ore segregation technique cyanide

Flotation method Ammoniacal

thiosulfate
Process options for gold-
Pre-leaching using sulfuric acid Cyanide-glycine
copper ores

Pre-leaching using glycine Cyanide-citrate Legend

Industrially used methods

Copper and cyanide recovery Copper-cyanidede struction
technologies technologies
Under development
Acidification based Electrochemical
Solvent extraction technologies (e.g., SART, oxidation Inco SO2 /Air
AVR )
Biodegradation Caro's acid Potential opportunities
Membrane for improvement
Activated carbon Hydrogen
Utrasonic peroxide
Integrated membrane- Ion exchange resin
based process (SuCy Photolysis Alkaline
chlorination
process) Electrowinning

Fig. 5  Summary of processing options for gold-copper ores and potential opportunities for improvement. Modified from Dai et al. [23]

of capital cost, and improvement of the clarification stage in
the SART process. The opportunities include pre-leaching
of copper using glycine or sodium citrate followed by gold
cyanide leaching; leaching with lixiviant mixtures (e.g., cya-
nide and glycine); and the use of integrated membrane-based
process (SuCy process).
5 Conclusions
The present study provides an overview of the challenges
and opportunities in processing complex gold-copper ores
and provides the following conclusions.
The major challenges in processing gold-copper ores
through the conventional cyanidation method were iden-
tified and discussed. These include increase in cyanide
consumption, increase in cyanide destruction cost, low
gold recovery, decrease in adsorption efficiency, decrease
in electrowinning efficiency, and difficulties in the meas-
urement of free cyanide concentration in the leaching
system. Moreover, the native copper, secondary copper
minerals such as chalcocite and covellite, copper oxide,
and copper carbonate minerals (e.g., azurite) have high
solubility in cyanide solution compared to other copper
minerals such as chalcopyrite, chrysocolla, and tetrahe-
drite. Furthermore, most gold leaching lixiviants have
narrow operating window for redox potential compared to
cyanide, which may require close control of the leaching
process. Additionally, each gold leaching lixiviants has
unique properties and limitations; thus, future research
directions should focus on utilizing the benefits of using
lixiviant mixtures.
The processing techniques for gold-copper ores were
reviewed including ore segregation, pre-aeration, pre-treat-
ment methods (e.g., sulfuric acid, ammonia, and iron (III)
chloride), leaching with lixiviant mixtures (e.g., ammonia-
cyanide), cyanide destruction methods such as Inco S ­ O2/air
process, and cyanide and copper recovery technologies such
as SART process. The present study identified new direc-
tions in processing complex gold-copper ores including the
use of lixiviant mixtures (e.g., cyanide-glycine), pre-treat-
ment with environmentally friendly reagents (e.g., glycine or
sodium citrate), and the integrated membrane-based process
(SuCy process) for cyanide and copper recovery processes.
The use of lixiviant mixtures (e.g., cyanide-glycine) has
indicated potential for reducing reagent consumption and
improving gold recovery in processing gold-copper ores.
However, many aspects are not well understood and require
further investigation, such as glycine consumption, optimal
process conditions, solution chemistry, reaction mechanism,
and reaction kinetics. Likewise, the integrated membrane-
based process (SuCy process) has also indicated potential
in the reducing plant size by about 90%, capital cost by over
25%, and enhancing clarification effectiveness compared to
the conventional SART process. However, this process is in
early development stage, and thus, more research is required
for successful upscaling of the technology.

13

Funding The authors would like to thank the University of Dodoma
for the financial support.
Data Availability The data used to generate this article will be avail-
able upon request.
Declarations
Conflict of Interest The authors declare no competing interests.
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