Investigation of Complex Treatment of the Gold-Bearing Antimony Flotation Concentrate

Abstract

This paper details the hydrometallurgical method of processing of refractory gold antimony flotation concentrate. Investigation of feed material has been occurred. Mineralogical analyses (XRD, SEM-EDS) and chemical analyses of the concentrate have been studied. Mainly, the material consists of compounds of antimony, silicon, calcium, sulfur and iron. The main phases are quartz, stibnite, calcium carbonate and ankerite, pyrite and arsenopyrite have been found as well. The feature of antimonite’s dissolving in alkaline solutions has been reviewed. The dependences of effects of the temperature, time, L/S ratio and NaOH concentration on the antimony and sulfur extraction from the feed flotation concentrate have been determined. During alkaline sulphide leaching of the starting material several physicochemical characteristics of gold dissolution have been identified. Agitated cyanide gold leaching test of the pre-treated cake was conducted. Gold recovery was 32.2%. The obtained low indexes of gold recovery are based on cyanidation. A nitric acid leaching of disantimonied cake was proposed.

Preparation of Antimony Sulfide and Enrichment of Gold by Sulfuration–Volatilization from Electrodeposited Antimony

“…The traditional treatment method of antimony minerals is the smoke method [8,9]; this is because antimony-gold ore contains gold and other minerals, and gold is often associated with sulfides, such as pyrite, antimonite, and arsenopyrite. In addition to natural gold and continuous gold, which represent the free existence of raw gold, most gold is embedded in sulfide and oxide minerals, which belong to the category of refractory gold mines [10][11][12][13][14]. Considering the enrichment and extraction of precious metals, sodium sulfide leaching-sodium thioantimonate solution electrodeposition is a commonly used technology for the treatment of antimony-gold ore.…”

Comparison of Methods of Processing the Gold - Containing Refractory Concentrates

“…Therefore, to achieve high recovery of gold from refractory ores and concentrates at the cyanidation stage, their preliminary preparation is necessary, which consists in the destruction of the sulfide matrix, namely, in the oxidation of sulfides. The most common methods of oxidation are: oxidative roasting, bacterial oxidation and autoclave oxidation [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16].…”

“…To date, the most promising from an economic and environmental point of view, and quite widely used in production practice technologies for processing refractory gold-bearing raw materials are: bacterial (BIOX) and autoclave (POX) oxidation [12][13][14][15][16]. The advantages of these technologies are the absence of any toxic gaseous emissions, the removal of arsenic from technologies in the form of low-toxic arsenate of iron and compared to roasting, a higher extraction of gold at the stage of cyanidation [17][18].…”