HYPOCHLORITE GOLD LEACHING AN ALTERNATIVE TO CYANIDE TECHNOLOGY

Traditional technologies of gold mining are exhausted due to the depletion of stocks of conditioned raw materials at functioning gold mining enterprises, in addition, the preservation or disposal of large-scale waste of these technologies requires significant financial costs for environmental protection measures. Recently, the search for alternative methods of gold leaching, which involve the use of non-toxic factors, but which in their physicochemical properties can compete with traditional levels, and especially with cyanides. The authors of this work investigated the mechanism and kinetics of the process of dissolving metallic gold in chloride-hypochlorite solutions and believe that alkali metal hypochlorites (first of all, sodium hypochlorite NaOCl, which is easily obtained by electrolysis from a solution of food’s salt NaCl, or from sea water) are a very promising replacement for cyanide-containing leachates. Two series of experiments were carried out to study sodium hypochlorite as a gold leaching agent using a traditional gold disk and finely dispersed native gold as dissolution objects. Found fundamental differences in methodological techniques when working with a traditional model object and native gold. The dependences of the dissolution rate on the solution pH, sodium hypochlorite concentration, and temperature are determined. Conditions of the gold surface passivation during its dissolution are discussed. The first-order rate constant of the gold dissolution 1 0,079 - 0,4030  ki  h at temperatures from 277 K to 304 K and others are calculated. The activation energy from the temperature dependence of the rate constants (40,3 kJ/mol) evidences a diffusion-kinetic control of the gold dissolution. Electron microscopy (using electron probe scanning on an energy dispersive spectrometer) of native gold particles revealed foreign inclusions - adsorbed mineral particles of calcite (CaCO3) and, presumably, a surface film consisting of aluminum oxide (Al2O3), which create a significant obstacle to the contact of leaching agents with the surface of the target gold grains. Quantitative data on the composition of surface adsorption films, formed by model gold electrode dissolution products, are obtained using atomic adsorption spectroscopy.

Preliminary Study on Gold Recovery from High Grade E-Waste by Thiourea Leaching and Electrowinning

The present paper is focused on the extraction of gold from high-grade e-waste, i.e., spent electronic connectors and plates, by leaching and electrowinning. These connectors are usually made up of an alloy covered by a layer of gold; sometimes, in some of them, a plastic part is also present. The applied leaching system consisted of an acid solution of diluted sulfuric acid (0.2 mol/L) with thiourea (20 g/L) as a reagent and ferric sulfate (21.8 g/L) as an oxidant. This system was applied on three different high-grade e-waste, namely: (1) Connectors with the partial gold-plated surface (Au concentration—1139 mg/kg); (2) different types of connectors with some of which with completely gold-plated surface (Au concentration—590 mg/kg); and (3) connectors and plates with the completely gold-plated surface (Au concentration—7900 mg/kg). Gold dissolution yields of 52, 94, and 49% were achieved from the first, second, and third samples, respectively. About 95% of Au recovery was achieved after 1.5 h of electrowinning at a current efficiency of only 4.06% and current consumption of 3.02 kWh/kg of Au from the leach solution of the third sample.

An electrochemical method to investigate the effects of compound composition on gold dissolution in thiosulfate solution

The electrochemical behavior of gold dissolution in the Cu2+–NH3–S2O32−–EDTA solution has been investigated in detail by deriving and analyzing the Tafel polarization curve, as this method is currently widely implemented for the electrode corrosion analysis. The dissolution rate of gold in Cu2+–NH3–S2O32−–EDTA solution was determined based on the Tafel polarization curves, and the effects of various compound compositions in a Cu2+–NH3–S2O32−–EDTA mixture on the corrosion potential and corrosion current density were analyzed. The results showed that the corrosion potential and polarization resistance decreased, whereas the corrosion current density increased for certain concentrations of S2O32−–NH3–Cu2+ and EDTA, indicating that the dissolution rate of gold had changed. The reason for promoting the dissolution of gold is also discussed.

Study of the “Oxidation-Complexation” Coordination Composite Ionic Liquid System for Dissolving Precious Metals

The extraction of precious metals is of significant importance for recycling valuable precious metal resources, however, most of the current methods for extraction are inefficient, energy-intensive, or environmentally unfriendly. Herein, we report a new chemical dissolution system for precious metals employing the trichloroisocyanuric acid (TCCA) as an oxidant and tributyl monomethyl ammonium chloride (N4441Cl) as a complexant. The leaching yield was achieving 100 wt% for the metals of Au, Pd, Cu, and Ag at 25 °C, and the average dissolution rate of gold was reaching 375 mg/h, 107.1 times higher than that of traditional cyanide method. Based on the analysis of UV-Vis and XPS results, a possible reaction mechanism was proposed: the precious metals were probably oxidized by TCCA, then the formed precious metal ions coordinate with N4441Cl strongly to promote the dissolution process. Applied to gold dissolution from ores, waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE) and waste catalysts, the leaching yield of the TCCA-N4441Cl coordinative composite reached 97, 100, and 100 wt%, respectively, demonstrating that this method is not only efficient and environmentally friendly, but also with great adaptability and high potential for real applications.