USE OF ORGANO-SULFUR REAGENTS FOR RECOVERY AND RECYCLE OF SILVER, COPPER, ZINC AND CYANIDE FROM PRECIOUS METALS CYANIDATION EFFLUENTS

摘要

Gold ores containing high levels of cyanide-leachable copper minerals, such as covellite, chalcocite, bornite, malachite, azurite, and cuprite have traditionally been difficult to treat economically. Anovel hydrometallurgical process for efficient treatment of cyanidation effluents obtained by leaching high copper gold ores (or concentrates)based on the use of Cherokee Chemical organo-sulfurreagents (OSR-A, OSR-B and OSR-C) is described. The process may be modified to selectively precipitate silver, or completely recover silver, copper and zinc, as well as regenerate significant amounts of cyanide. For example, data obtained demonstrate that 100 percent of silver and zinc, and 98 percent of copper were removed from the solution, while 80 percent of cyanide was recovered. The treated barren solution sexhibit enhanced gold and silver leaching kinetics compared to the untreated controls.