Logo image
Back
Elution of gold from carbon by the micron solvent distillation procedure
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Elution of gold from carbon by the micron solvent distillation procedure

D.M. Muir, W.D. Hinchliffe and A. Griffin
Hydrometallurgy, Vol.14(2), pp.151-169
1985
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-386X(85)90031-3
url
Link to Published Version *Subscription may be requiredView

Abstract

The desorption of gold from activated carbon is promoted by adding organic solvents to aqueous cyanide solutions. At 65–80°C the elution of gold is fast and is not affected by water quality. The Micron procedure involves pretreatment of the loaded carbon with NaCN/NaOH followed by elution with methanol vapour and condensate. Carbon is packed into a column above the distillation pot and acts as a fractionating column. Recovery of the methanol condensate leaves a methanol-free concentrated gold solution and carbon containing less than 200 g t−1 gold suitable for recycling. Aqueous acetonitrile and ethanol are equally effective solvents and desorb gold from carbon slightly faster than methanol. Results of laboratory and pilot testwork using methanol, ethanol and acetonitrile are described. Typically, gold is stripped from the carbon in 4–6 hours in 1 bed volume of solution to give concentrated gold eluates. The carbon retains a high kinetic activity after solvent stripping which is slightly better than that after stripping by the Anglo or Zadra procedures. A cost evaluation indicates that the Micron procedure is cheaper than the Zadra procedure due to significant time and energy savings. It is suited to operations requiring regular and rapid carbon stripping and recycling.

Details

Metrics

153 Record Views
6 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Citation topics
7 Engineering & Materials Science
7.229 Mineral & Metal Processing
7.229.774 Bioleaching
Web Of Science research areas
Metallurgy & Metallurgical Engineering
ESI research areas
Materials Science
Logo image