Minerals Engineering 87 (2016) 10–17

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Minerals Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mineng

Gold dissolution and copper suppression during leaching of copper–gold

gravity concentrates in caustic soda-low free cyanide solutions
E.A. Oraby a,b, J.J. Eksteen a,⇑
a
Western Australian School of Mines, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia
b
Faculty of Engineering, Assiut University, Egypt

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In the cyanidation process, copper–gold deposits containing significant amounts of cyanide soluble cop-
Received 23 June 2015 per can lead to high cyanide consumption with low gold extraction. The significant levels of weak acid
Revised 7 August 2015 dissociable (WAD) cyanide must then be destroyed prior to tailings disposal. This increases the cost to
Accepted 10 August 2015
the gold mining companies to cover both the extra cyanide consumption in the leaching stage and the
Available online 22 August 2015
additional cost for cyanide recovery/destruction. Therefore, in this study, a selective cyanide leaching
process of gold over copper from copper–gold concentrate (also see Oraby and Eksteen, 2014) containing
Keywords:
490 g/t Au and 0.97% Cu present as metallic copper, oxides and sulfides has been investigated. To
Copper–cyanide complexes
Copper
decrease the cyanide consumption, cyanide is added into the leach solutions to maintain a ratio of cya-
Gold nide to total reactive copper (CN/Cu) below 2. At low CN/Cu ratio, increasing the pH of solution can lead
Caustic soda to the precipitation of solubilized copper as CuO/Cu(OH)2, releasing cyanide ions for further both gold and
copper dissolution. A comparison of leaching gold in cyanide–caustic, cyanide–ammonia and conven-
tional cyanidation processes has been made. Higher gold extraction and lower copper concentration in
the final leach was achieved in the cyanide–caustic system than in either the cyanide–ammonia or con-
ventional cyanidation processes. The effects of the caustic soda (pH) concentration or cyanide concentra-
tion on gold extraction and copper suppression have also been studied. The results show that at high pH
(>12), the gold dissolution rate increases significantly in solutions containing caustic soda and cyanide at
zero, or very low free cyanide concentration.
Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction electrowinning and adsorption of copper cyanides on either acti-

vated carbon or ion exchange resins. However, these processes
The high cyanide consumption during the hydrometallurgical are rarely economic. La Brooy (1992) reported that 0.5% soluble
processing of high copper–gold ores or concentrates often makes copper was the critical level for direct cyanidation in oxide ores,
the conventional cyanidation uneconomic. Cyanide consumption while the critical level is 1% for sulfide ores.
can be up to 2.3 kg of NaCN for every kilogram of Cu leached For economic cyanidation applications, the preferred treatment
(Stewart and Kappes, 2012). The requirement in most cases is to of copper–gold resources is to selectively leach gold over copper
remove WAD cyanide prior to final tailings disposal, usually by rather than leaching both gold and copper followed by cyanide
chemical oxidation which also adds to the cost of cyanidation. and copper recovery. One of these applications is the cyanide–am-
Alternatively other capital and operating cost intensive processes monia process to leach gold over copper from oxidized ores which
such as AVR and SART are added to recover the copper and cyanide has been applied for over a century in the treatment of different
(Muir et al., 1993; Nguyen et al., 1997). Currently many gold mines gold–copper ores (Muir, 2011). The cyanide–ammonia system to
are facing the problem of treating gold ores containing significant leach gold over copper from oxidized ores has been studied using
amounts of reactive copper. Alternative process options include different gold–copper ores (Drok and Ritchie, 1997; Costello et al.,
the recovery of copper and the recycle of cyanide to the leaching 1992; Muir et al., 1995; La Brooy et al., 1991). However, the treat-
stage, using a variety of processes and technologies which were ment of sulfide ores gave poor gold recovery and required higher
recently reviewed by Dai et al. (2012) such as AVR and SART, reagent concentrations (Muir, 2011). It was also found that, due to
the loss of volatile ammonia, a significant loss of gold and cyanide
was observed due to the precipitation of gold as AuCN
CuCN (Muir
⇑ Corresponding author.
et al., 1991; Dai et al., 2005). In addition, there are some environmen-
E-mail address: [email protected] (J.J. Eksteen).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2015.08.006
0892-6875/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 E.A. Oraby, J.J. Eksteen / Minerals Engineering 87 (2016) 10–17 11

tal concerns of using ammonia due to its volatility and toxicity. The Therefore, taking advantage of the cyanide ions released from
threshold limiting value (TLV) for ammonia is 17 mg/m3 (25 ppm) copper precipitation at low cyanide/copper ratio and high pH using
according to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and caustic soda as a pH modifier, the proposed work aims to optimize
Health (NOISH, 1992; Rubo et al., 2000), which is close to that of and enhance the leaching of gold from copper–gold resources con-
HCN (11 mg/m3) according to the American Conference of Govern- taining high reactive copper contents. The research work also aims
mental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH, 1986). to reduce both cyanide consumption and copper concentration in
Some earlier studies focused on the concept of leaching copper– the final leach solutions to avoid having to employ either the cya-
gold ores in cyanide deficient copper solutions. It was reported by nide destruction or cyanide–copper recovery processes.
Hedley and Kentro (1945) that gold could be dissolved by copper
cyanide complexes. Copper–cyanide species (e.g. Cu(CN)2 3 ) can 2. Experimental
enhance gold dissolution in the cyanidation process under the
specific leaching conditions of zero or low free cyanide concentra- All experiments were carried out using solutions prepared from
tion by release of one or more of the associated cyanide ions (Muir analytical grade reagents and deionised water. The feed material
et al., 1989; Van Deventer and Rees, 1999). However, the outcomes for these experiments was a high copper–gold gravity concentrate
of other studies show that gold leaching occurred in air-saturated (Falcon centrifugal concentrator product) diluted with silica pow-
Cu(CN)2 3 solutions at a much slower rate than in free cyanide solu- der (100% 75 lm). The particle size of the concentrate used in
tions (Breuer et al., 2005; Nugent, 1991). the leaching experiments was 100% 150 lm and 80% 106 lm.
At zero or low free cyanide concentration, low CN/Cu ratio and The mineralogical composition of the diluted gravity concentrate
high pH, the precipitation of copper as Cu(OH)2 occurs as shown in was determined by the quantitative evaluation of minerals by
Eq. (1) (Vukcevic, 1997). The released cyanide ions (Eq. (1)) can scanning electron microscopy (QEMSCAN) technique at CSIRO,
then be involved in further copper and gold dissolution as shown Waterford, WA. The cyanide and sulfur speciation in the leach
in Eqs. (2) and (3) respectively. solution at various leach times was also carried out at CSIRO,
Waterford, WA using High Performance Liquid Chromatography
4CuðCNÞ2 þ O2 þ 4OH þ 2H2 O ! 4CuðOHÞ2 # þ8CN ð1Þ (HPLC). Leaching solution pH was initially adjusted using sodium
hydroxide. Unless specified, the cyanide addition was 0.8 g/L NaCN
4Cu þ 12CN þ O2 þ 2H2 O ! 4CuðCNÞ2
3 þ 4OH

ð2Þ (16.3 mM CN ). Leaching of gold–copper concentrate at 28.5% pulp
density was conducted in a 2.5 L Winchester bottle using a bottle
4Au þ 8CN þ O2 þ 2H2 O ! 4AuðCNÞ2 þ 4OH ð3Þ roller at a speed of 150 rpm, at room temperature. Bottles are left
open to allow for atmospheric oxygen transfer, to ensure sufficient
The precipitation of Cu(OH)2 at low cyanide/copper ratio and
oxygen for leaching. At specified times, 25 mL samples of the leach
high pH was also observed by Dai and Breuer (2009). These authors
slurry were filtered using a membrane filter (pore size 0.45 lm)
also found that the pH at which the copper starts to precipitate
and the solids returned to the leach. The clear solution was ana-
decreases with decreasing cyanide/copper ratio and increasing
lyzed for gold and copper using Atomic Absorption Spectropho-
copper concentration. The increase in hydroxide ions enhances
tometry (AAS). S, Si, Pb, Fe, As, Zn and Ni were analyzed by
the precipitation of copper at low free cyanide concentration.
Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP–
Vukcevic (1997) concluded that the precipitation of copper as
OES). The gold content of the feed and residues was determined
CuO, Cu2O or Cu(OH)2 occurs as a parallel process to gold dissolu-
by fire assay at SGS Australia laboratory in Western Australia.
tion. Moreover, the presence of copper oxides enhances the copper
precipitation. However, in the cyanide leaching of copper minerals,
Cu(I) cyanide complexes can be formed which can then be involved 3. Results and discussion
in gold dissolution. In the cyanidation process small amounts of
hydroxide ions from the reduction of oxygen can be released in 3.1. Gold and copper dissolution
the leach solution as shown in Eqs. (4) and (5).
Preliminary experiments were conducted to evaluate the leach-
O2 þ 2H2 O þ 4e ! 4OH ð4Þ ing of gold from a feed containing 490 g/t Au and 0.94% Cu as
metallic copper, oxides and sulfides. The mineralogical composi-
O2 þ 2H2 O þ 2e ! H2 O2 þ 2OH ð5Þ tion of the feed was analyzed by QEMSCAN and the results are
However, the additional contribution of these hydroxyl ions is shown in Table 1. The total amount of the reactive copper in the
insignificant given the low levels of dissolved oxygen available. treated concentrate can be estimated by reference to the solubility
From the past research studies that deal with the treatment of of different copper minerals in cyanide solution shown in Table 2.
gold–copper resources, it is known that the gold dissolution and From the data shown in Tables 1 and 2, the percentage of the
copper suppression can be enhanced under one or both of the fol-
lowing leaching conditions:
Table 1
The mineralogical analysis of copper and gangue minerals of the studied copper–gold
 By leaching at low cyanide/reactive copper molar ratio, most of gravity concentrate.
the cyanide will be involved in copper dissolution and mainly
Mineral Wt, % Mineral Wt, %
forms CuðCNÞ 2 and some CuðCNÞ3
2
with no free cyanide left
Chalcocite/digenite 0.4 Arsenopyrite 0.00
in the leach solution. Cu–metal 0.3 Quartz 87.1
 By leaching at high pH (>12.5) using caustic soda, copper pre- Cuprite 0.2 Feldspar 1.3
cipitates as Cu2O/CuO/Cu(OH)2 and releases cyanide ions. In Chalcopyrite 0.2 Calcite <0.1
the presence of copper sulfide minerals, leaching gold at high Bornite 0.1 Dolomite 0.00
Covellite <0.1 Ankerite/dolomite 0.2
pH is performed by adding caustic soda instead of lime. Adding
Exotic complex Cu–sulfides <0.1 Rutile/anatase/ilmenite 0.1
lime at pH > 11 can decrease the gold dissolution due to the for- Cu boundaries 0.1 Hematite 0.2
mation of passivating films of gypsum on the gold surface Pyrite 7.1 Goethite 0.7
(Kudryk and Kellogg, 1954). Pyrrhotite 0.1 Others 1.8

Minerals and Assays in bold are copper-containing minerals.

12 E.A. Oraby, J.J. Eksteen / Minerals Engineering 87 (2016) 10–17

Table 2
Solubility of Cu minerals in 0.1% NaCN solution (Hedley and Tabachnick, 1968).

Mineral Formula %Copper dissolveda

Azurite Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2 94.5
Malachite Cu2CO3(OH)2 90.2
Chalcocite Cu2S 90.2
Covellite CuS 95.6
Chalcopyrite CuFeS2 5.60
Native copper Cu 90.0
Cuprite Cu2O 85.5
Bornite FeS
2Cu2S 70.0
Enargite Cu3AsS4 65.8
Tetrahedrite (Cu
Fe
Ag
Zn) 12Sb4S13 21.9
Chrysocolla CuSiO3
(nH2O) 11.8

Cyanide soluble minerals in bold in Table 2 also occur in significant proportions in

the copper-gold concentrate studied in this paper. Fig. 1. Gold extraction from copper–gold concentrate in 0.8 g/L NaCN solutions in
a
Percent total copper dissolved at 23 °C in agitated tank for 24 h, ratio of solution the absence and presence of 3 g/L NaOH (pH 12.6).
to ore 10:1 (cited in Coderre and Dixon (1999)).

reactive copper in the treated concentrate is 0.81% Cu. Table 3 also

shows the elemental analysis of the gold–copper concentrate.  After most of cyanide ions are consumed by copper leaching,
As a comparison, two preliminary experiments were conducted and the free cyanide concentration is zero or very low and with
to leach gold from the copper–gold concentrate using solutions the high pH, it is most likely that labile cyanide ions are
containing an initial 0.8 g/L NaCN and pulp density of 28.5% in released, mainly from the higher copper–cyanide complexes
the presence of 3 g/L NaOH (pH 12.6) and in its absence (pH as shown in Eqs. 6–8.
10.9, with lime as pH modifier). The gold extractions at these
leaching conditions are shown in Fig. 1. It can be seen that the CuðCNÞ3 2
4 ! CuðCNÞ3 þ CN

ð6Þ
extraction of gold is significantly enhanced in the presence of
NaOH (pH 12.6) and the gold extraction after 72 h reaches 93.6% CuðCNÞ2 
3 ! CuðCNÞ2 þ CN

ð7Þ
but only 16.5% in the absence of NaOH (pH 10.9). The cyanide con-
sumption was only 1.98 kg/tonne of such a copper–gold concen- CuðCNÞ2 ! CuCN # þCN ð8Þ
trate which contains high cyanide soluble copper (0.81%). This is
The released cyanide ions can then be involved in further leach-
considered as very low cyanide consumption for such a feed mate-
ing of copper (Eq. (2)) and gold (Eq. (3)).
rial as it is well known that for each 1% of soluble copper in an ore
In the presence of oxygen, CuðCNÞ 2 complex can also be directly
the cyanide consumption is around 23 kg/t (Tran et al., 1997).
Fig. 2 shows the copper concentration in both solutions and it involved in the dissolution of gold as shown in Eq. (9) (Vukcevic,
can be observed that the amount of dissolved copper in the pres- 1997).
ence of NaOH is significantly less than in its absence. As a result 2Au þ 2CuðCNÞ2 þ 2H2 O þ O2 $ 2AuðCNÞ2 þ 2CuðOHÞ2 ð9Þ
of the precipitation of copper oxides/hydroxides, the copper con-
centration decreases in the presence of NaOH from 374 mg/L after
3.2. Cyanide speciation
1 h to 13.5 mg/L after 73 h. On the other hand, the amount of cop-
per precipitated in the absence of NaOH was negligible. The high
Cyanide species were analyzed in the leach solutions containing
gold extraction, low cyanide consumption and low copper concen-
an initial 1 g/L NaCN in the presence and absence of 3 g/L NaOH
tration in the final solution that were achieved using cyanide–
after 4, 24 and 48 h using HPLC. The cyanide speciation analysis
caustic solutions, is a promising approach to cyanidation of copper
includes total cyanide (CNT), free cyanide (CN), cyanate (CNO),
containing gold resources (Nguyen et al., 1997; Sceresini and
thiocyanate (SCN) and weak acid dissociable cyanide (WAD).
Staunton, 1991; Tran et al., 1997).
The results of cyanide speciation in the absence and presence of
Gold, copper and other elemental concentrations in the final
3 g/L NaOH are shown in Figs. 3 and 4 respectively. It is clear that
leach solution are shown in Table 4. Total sulfur is much higher
the WAD cyanide decreases significantly in the presence of sodium
in the leach solution at higher pH (NaOH used) than that at a lower
hydroxide (high pH). However thiocyanate and cyanate are higher
pH (no NaOH added).
in the presence of sodium hydroxide. This may be due to the reac-
The enhancement of both gold dissolution and copper precipita-
tion of cyanide with the oxide and sulfide copper minerals in the
tion in the presence of NaOH (High pH) under conditions of zero or
concentrate as shown in Eqs. (10) and (11).
very low free cyanide can be ascribed to the following mechanisms
and reactions: 1
Cu2 S þ 5ðCNÞ þ O2 þ H2 O ! 2CuðCNÞ2 þ SCN þ 2OH ð10Þ
2
 At the initial time of leaching, cyanide rapidly dissolves most of
the reactive copper (metallic, cuprite, and chalcocite) and forms 1
Cu2 O þ 5ðCNÞ þ O2 þ H2 O ! 2CuðCNÞ2 þ OCN þ 2OH ð11Þ
different copper cyanide complex such as CuðCNÞ3 2 2
4 , CuðCNÞ3

and CuðCNÞ2 .

Table 3
Elemental analysis of the copper–gold concentrate.

Element Au, ppm Ag% Cu% As% Fe% Si% Ni% Al% K% Co% Pb% S%
Concentration 490 0.01 0.97 0.19 2.90 46.74 0.02 0.50 0.17 0.09 0.03 2.85
 E.A. Oraby, J.J. Eksteen / Minerals Engineering 87 (2016) 10–17 13

3.3. Sulfur speciation To evaluate the effect of pH modifiers, leaching experiments

were conducted using industrial lime, calcium hydroxide (AR)
It is well known that most metal sulfides decompose in cyanide and sodium hydroxide. The results presented in Fig. 8 show that
solutions to form different sulfur species including, sulfide, thio- gold dissolution is much faster and more complete in the presence
cyanate, sulfide, thiosulfate and polythionate ions (Marsden and of sodium hydroxide than with industrial lime or AR Ca(OH)2. The
House, 1992; Breuer et al., 2005). Sulfur species were analyzed in presence of sulfate ions in high concentrations (as shown in Fig. 7)
the leach solutions in the presence and absence of NaOH after 4, can lead to the precipitation of gypsum leading to passivation of
24 and 48 h by HPLC using the same procedure described in the gold if lime is used.
Breuer et al. (2008). The reactions of cyanide with reduced sulfur
species to produce sulfite, sulfate, thiosulfate and thiocyanate are
3.4. Effect of pH (NaOH concentration)
briefly described by Luthy and Bruce (1979) as shown in Fig. 5.
The sulfur speciation includes sulfides, sulfite, thiosulfate and
The effect of sodium hydroxide addition and consequently the
sulfate. The results of sulfur speciation in the absence and presence
leaching pH value on the gold dissolution and copper precipitation
of 3 g/L NaOH are shown in Figs. 6 and 7 respectively. Not surpris-
in solutions containing 0.8 g/L NaCN are shown in Figs. 9 and 10. It
ingly, low levels of sulfide ions were present in the cyanide leach
solutions in the absence and presence of sodium hydroxide as sul-
fide ions are rapidly oxidized to different sulfur species. This pro-
vides an advantage as the sulfide ions significantly hinder gold
when leaching these minerals in free cyanide solutions (Breuer
et al., 2005; Dai and Jeffrey, 2006). The sulfate results from the sul-
fite and thiosulfate oxidation. Sulfite is a known oxygen consumer,
and rapidly reacts with dissolved oxygen to form sulfate (Hewitt
et al., 2009). HPLC analysis has confirmed sulfate ions are the major
product of the sulfide ion oxidation under both leaching condi-
tions. In the presence of NaOH (high pH), the sulfate concentration
increases linearly over time (Fig. 7). Thiosulfate and thiocyanate
ions were also detected in higher concentrations in solutions con-
taining NaOH. This confirms that the free cyanide ions released due
to the copper precipitation can dissolve more of the reactive sulfide
Fig. 3. Cyanide speciation of leaching solutions containing 1 g/L cyanide in the
minerals and form sulfide ions which then are oxidized to different absence of NaOH (pH 10.9, by lime).
sulfur species. This cycle of copper precipitation followed by cya-
nide release and gold and sulfide minerals dissolution continues
until most of the copper precipitates from the leach solution.
In the presence of soluble sulfide minerals, such as chalcocite,
which generate sulfide ions in solution, the oxidation of sulfide
ions to different sulfur species occurs on a conductive surface such
as pyrite (Hewitt et al., 2009).

Fig. 4. Cyanide speciation of leaching solutions containing 1 g/L cyanide in the

presence of 3 g/L NaOH (pH 12.6).

Fig. 2. Copper dissolution from a copper–gold concentrate in 0.8 g/L NaCN

solutions in the absence and presence of 3 g/L NaOH.

Table 4
Gold and impurities concentrations in the final leach solutions containing 0.8 g/L
NaCN in the presence and absence of 3 g/L NaOH.

Au Cu Fe Si As Pb Ni S Zn
Concentration (mg/L)
3 g/L 203.4 13.5 0.22 21.5 13.5 <0.2 <0.2 340 <0.2
NaOH
0 g/L 33.8 456 <0.2 3.50 10.45 <0.2 <0.2 96.6 <0.2
Fig. 5. Possible reaction of cyanide and oxygen with sulfide ions in aqueous
NaOH
solutions (Luthy and Bruce, 1979).
14 E.A. Oraby, J.J. Eksteen / Minerals Engineering 87 (2016) 10–17

Fig. 9. Gold in solution from leaching a copper–gold concentrate in 0.8 g/L cyanide
solutions at different NaOH concentrations (g/L).
Fig. 6. Sulfur speciation of leaching solutions containing 1 g/L cyanide in the
absence of 3 g/L NaOH (pH 10.9).

Fig. 10. Copper in solution from a leaching a copper–gold concentrate in 0.8 g/L
NaCN at different NaOH concentrations (g/L).
Fig. 7. Sulfur speciation of leaching solutions containing 1 g/L cyanide in the
presence of 3 g/L NaOH (pH 12.9).

Fig. 11. Gold extraction from a copper–gold concentrate in the presence of 1 g/L
Fig. 8. Gold extraction from a copper–gold concentrates in 1 g/L sodium cyanide NaOH at different cyanide concentrations (g/L).
solutions in the presence of different pH modifiers (NaOH, AR Ca(OH)2, industrial
lime).

can be seen from the data shown in Fig. 9 that gold dissolution
increases significantly by the addition of sodium hydroxide even
as low as 1 g/L OH . Increasing the concentration of OH up to
5 g/L enhances both the gold dissolution (Fig. 9) and copper precip-
itation (Fig. 10). Gold extraction of 96.5% can be achieved in the
presence of 0.8 g/L NaCN and 5 g/L NaOH by extending the leaching
time to 72 h. The copper concentration in the final leach solutions
after 72 h in the presence of 3 or 5 g/L NaOH was only about
6.5 mg/L.

3.5. Effect of cyanide concentration

The kinetics of gold dissolution in solutions containing 1 g/L Fig. 12. Copper in solution from leaching a copper–gold concentrate in the
NaOH in the presence of different initial cyanide concentrations presence of 1 g/L NaOH at different cyanide concentrations (g/L).
 E.A. Oraby, J.J. Eksteen / Minerals Engineering 87 (2016) 10–17 15

was studied and the results are shown in Fig. 11. It can be seen that 3.7. Cyanide–ammonia and cyanide–caustic systems
the gold dissolution increases with increasing initial cyanide con-
centration; however, increasing the initial cyanide concentration In this section the gold dissolution from solutions containing
also increases the copper dissolution (Fig. 12). It was also found cyanide–ammonia (0.8 g/L NaCN and 4 g/L ammonia), and solu-
that increasing the initial cyanide concentration from 0.5 g/L to tions containing cyanide–caustic (0.8 g/L NaCN and 3 g/L NaOH)
1.6 g/L increases gold extraction from 61.5% to 78.4%, but the cop- were studied. The results show (Fig. 15) that gold initially dissolves
per concentration in the final leach solution also increases from rapidly in the cyanide–ammonia and gold extraction reaches 75.6%
99.5 mg/L to 475 mg/L. This observation suggests that any extra after 24 h leaching. However by extending the leaching time up to
cyanide addition during the conventional cyanidation dissolves 72 h, the gold extraction was not much improved (84.6%). How-
proportionally more copper than gold. It is well know that cyanide ever, gold extraction in solutions containing cyanide and caustic
dissolves copper faster than gold in the treatment of copper reached 93.6% after 72 h leaching. This difference in behavior can
resources containing reactive copper (Deschenes and Prudho be attributed to the precipitation of copper and the subsequent
mme, 1997; Jiang et al., 2001; Breuer et al., 2005). release of free cyanide ions as shown in Fig. 16. After the first
24 h of leaching the copper concentration in the cyanide–ammonia
solution is lower than in cyanide–caustic solution, with a higher
3.6. Effect of high cyanide concentration gold concentration for the cyanide–ammonia solution (Fig. 15).
The final copper concentrations after 72 h leaching in solutions
It has been shown in Figs. 11 and 12 that at high cyanide con- containing cyanide–caustic and cyanide ammonia were 13.5 mg/L
centration (1.6 g/L) and low sodium hydroxide concentration and 358.6 mg/L respectively.
(1 g/L), the dissolution of both gold and copper increase which Increasing the cyanide concentration to 1.2 g/L in the presence
leads to greater cyanide consumption. By increasing the concentra- of 3 g/L NaOH, results in a gold extraction of 83.7% after 49.5 h
tions of both cyanide and caustic (pH), some interesting results leaching, as shown in Fig. 17. However, in a solution containing a
were observed, as shown in Figs. 13 and 14. Gold extraction was similar cyanide concentration and 2 g/L ammonia, the gold extrac-
significantly enhanced and reached 97.9% after only 48 h leaching tion was only 72.6% at the same time. The final copper concentra-
in solutions containing 1.6 g/L cyanide and 4 g/L NaOH. The tion in the cyanide–caustic solution was found to be much lower
increasing gold extraction in the presence of higher caustic concen- than copper concentration in cyanide ammonia system (Fig. 18).
trations (97.9% Au extraction at 4 g/L NaOH; 52.92% Au extraction This may be attributed to the volatilization of ammonia during
at 1 g/L NaOH; and 13.75% Au extraction at 0 g/L NaOH) can be leaching as it was found that the pH of the leach solution decreases
attributed to the high amounts of copper precipitated in the pres- from pH 11.7 to pH 9.95 after 72 h. However, in the cyanide caustic
ence of high caustic (pH 12.85) as shown in Fig 14. The precipita- system, the pH of the slurry was quite stable at 12.7 during the
tion of copper releases more of the complexed cyanide for gold whole period of leaching. Fig. 17 shows also gold concentration
leaching as shown in Eqs. (1), (8) and (10).

Fig. 15. Gold extraction from a copper gold gravity concentrate in solutions
containing cyanide–ammonia (0.8 g/L NaCN and 4 g/L ammonia), and solutions
Fig. 13. Gold extraction from a copper gold gravity concentrate in the presence of containing cyanide–caustic (0.8 g/L NaCN and 3 g/L NaOH).
1.6 g/L NaCN at different caustic concentrations (g/L).

Fig. 16. Copper in solution from leaching a copper–gold concentrate in solutions

Fig. 14. Copper dissolution from a copper–gold gravity concentrate in 1.6 g/L containing cyanide–ammonia (0.8 g/L NaCN and 4 g/L ammonia), and solutions
cyanide solutions at different NaOH concentrations (g/L). containing cyanide–caustic (0.8 g/L NaCN and 3 g/L NaOH).
16 E.A. Oraby, J.J. Eksteen / Minerals Engineering 87 (2016) 10–17

4. Conclusions

Selective leaching of gold over copper from a copper–gold con-

centrate containing significant amounts of cyanide soluble copper
has been achieved using cyanide solution and caustic soda as a pH
modifier. The results showed that gold dissolution can be enhanced
and cyanide consumption can be reduced if the leaching parame-
ters are optimized. The important leaching conditions include cya-
nide concentration, CN/reactive copper ratio and pH of the leach
solution. The study showed that gold extraction was significantly
enhanced and cyanide consumption was also significantly reduced
by leaching at low CN/Cu ratio and high pH (>12.6). Using caustic
soda was found to be more effective than using lime as a pH mod-
Fig. 17. Gold extraction from a copper–gold concentrate in solutions containing ifier. At the optimum leaching conditions, the study showed that
cyanide–ammonia, cyanide–caustic, and cyanide–ammonia–caustic. copper concentration and consequently WAD cyanide in the final
leach solutions was very low. This result presents the twin advan-
tages of a relatively low cyanide consumption and reduced cyanide
destruction costs.
The results have also shown that leaching gold–copper concen-
trate in cyanide–caustic solutions in the presence of low or zero
free cyanide can be accomplished with high gold extraction
(97.6% Au), low cyanide consumption and low copper level in the
final leach solutions. Consequently, it can be recommended that
leaching gold from gold–copper concentrates or ores in cyanide–
caustic solutions may address some of the problems of high cya-
nide consumption and high copper cyanide (WAD cyanide) in the
final leach solutions.
This study also confirms that the phenomenon of the release of
free cyanide ions due to the copper precipitation at low free cya-
nide and high pH. These cyanide ions are then involved in further
dissolution of gold and reactive sulfide minerals. Sulfide ions pro-
Fig. 18. Copper dissolution from a copper–gold concentrate in solutions containing duced are then re-oxidized to different sulfur species.
cyanide–ammonia, cyanide–caustic, and cyanide–ammonia–caustic.

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