A PROCESS FOR LEACHING NOBLE METALS FROM ORES OR ORE CONCENTRATES USING CYANIDE-CONTAINING SOLUTIONS WITH ADDITION OF HYDROGEN PEROXIDE

摘要

Leaching of gold and/or silver from ores or ore concentrates in an aqueous alkaline cyanide solution with added hydrogen peroxide has so far not been used industrially, because it is uneconomical, i.e. the consumption of H2O2 and NaCN was unduly high. It has been found that the process can be made very economical and disadvantages of the conventional leaching technology can be avoided if the addition of the aqueous H2O2 solution is controlled via the concentration of the oxygen dissolved in the leaching solution, which contains 2 to 20 mg of O2 and preferably 7 to 13 mg of O2 per litre. Preferably, 0.5 to 5% by weight of H2O2 solutions are added under control. The process is applicable to agitation leaching and heap leaching, the H2O2 addition being controlled via measuring the O2 concentration in a measuring stream. At low consumption of H2O2 and NaCN, sometimes the gold yield is even increased and the leaching time is shortened.