GOLD RECOVERY FROM REFRACTORY ORES AND CONCENTRATES

摘要

A method for recovery of gold from a gold-containing, refractory pyrite-rich ore or concentrate is disclosed. The method results in the production of a high grade, gold-containing solid intermediate concentrate. One embodiment comprises the steps of treating gold-containing material (100) rich in pyrite, arseno-pyrite or other iron sulphide to yield a gold-containing refractory concentrate (110) comprising a host mineral matrix rich in pyrite, arseno-pyrite or other iron sulphide, pressure oxidation (112) of the refractory concentrate (110) under acidic conditions to decompose the host mineral matrix and precipitate basic ferric sulphate (Fe(OH)S04) to produce a pressure oxidation product (114), conditioning of the pressure oxidation product (114) under acidic conditions at atmospheric pressure to convert the basic ferric sulphate (Fe(OH)S04) to soluble ferric sulphate (Fe2(S04)3) to produce a conditioning product (120), solid/liquid separation of the conditioning product (120) to produce a high grade, gold-containing solid intermediate concentrate (124), and an acidic filtrate (126).