This study was undertaken to improve gold and silver extraction from a pyritic gold flotation concentrate, which assayed 11 g/t Au, 42 g/t Ag, 0.21% Cu, 3.57% Zn, and 31% Fe. Direct cyanide leaching of the concentrate at 1.5 g/L NaCN yielded a low gold extraction (37%), confirming its refractory nature. Effects of lead nitrate (200-500 g/t Pb(NO3)2) and pre-aeration (24 h) before cyanide leaching at 1.5-3.5 g/L NaCN were investigated. Earlier studies have focused on the impact of these parameters on gold leaching. Besides gold, this study demonstrated the behaviour of silver and base metals (copper and zinc) from the pyritic gold concentrate. Adding lead nitrate had a negligible effect on gold extraction whilst improving silver extraction. Dissolution of copper was substantially suppressed by adding lead nitrate, i.e., from 23% (no Pb(NO3)2) to 4% (500 g/t Pb(NO3)2) over 24 h. Zinc dissolution was negligible (≤0.01%). Pre-aeration of the concentrate improved the gold and silver extractions by 4-14% and 23-44% at the subsequent cyanide leaching (1.5-3.5 g/L NaCN). However, it did not affect the leaching of copper. Only negligible leaching of zinc (≤0.6%) occurred during cyanide leaching. Pre-aeration also reduced cyanide consumption in subsequent cyanide leaching (1.5 g/L NaCN), i.e., from 2.83 kg/t to 2.03 kg/t NaCN per solids. These results suggested that lead nitrate can improve silver extraction while suppressing copper dissolution, which would be advantageous in the leaching-adsorption circuit (CIP), mitigating the dissolved copper-associated problems. Pre-aeration can also be suitable for improved gold/silver extractions and reduced reagent consumption.
In this study, a detailed characterization of the clayey waste of the Kırka boron plant was undertaken before the development of a sulfuric acid roasting-water leaching process for the extraction of lithium from this waste. The effects of roasting temperature (650-800°C) and sulfuric acid/waste ratio (90-260 kg H2SO4/1000 kg waste on a dry basis) on the extraction of lithium were investigated. By roasting the waste sample, which contained 0.37% Li2O with dolomite, smectite and borax as the main phases, at temperatures between 650°C and 800°C in the absence of sulfuric acid as the additive, CaMgSiO4 was found to form as the dominant phase after the decomposition of dolomite and smectite present in the sample. On the other hand, the X-ray diffraction analyses of the waste sample subjected to sulfuric acid treatment without roasting showed the in-situ formation of various hydrated calcium sulfate phases for all sulfuric acid/waste ratios tested. Besides, at the highest acid/waste ratio of 260, a hydrated magnesium sulfate phase was also identified in the sample. The application of the sulfuric acid roasting-water leaching process under the optimum roasting temperature of 750°C and the acid/waste ratio of 180 was found to lead to a lithium extraction of 85.7%. The applied sulfuric acid roasting-water leaching process appeared to be an attractive process with its attributes including low roasting temperature, high extraction percentage and no requirement for gypsum as the external sulfation agent.
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