Electrolysis: processes – compositions used therein – and methods – Electrolytic material treatment – Solid
Patent
1995-02-27
1997-05-06
Niebling, John
Electrolysis: processes, compositions used therein, and methods
Electrolytic material treatment
Solid
205771, 205772, 205565, 205571, 205574, C25C 100
Patent
active
056267398
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates generally to the treatment of naturally occurring materials having some economic importance, such as for example mined materials or ores, and particularly to the treatment of ore materials containing a valuable component, such as for example a precious metal. More particularly, the present invention relates to the extraction of one or more components of a solid material or a mixture or combination of solid materials by the dissolution of the valuable component or components in a liquid and the subsequent or simultaneous extraction of the dissolved component(s) from the liquid. In particular the present invention relates to the extraction of precious metals, such as for example gold, silver and the like from ores containing these metals. The present invention finds particular application as an improvement in the extraction of gold from gold containing materials using a leaching solution to dissolve the gold from these materials.
Although the present invention will be described with particular reference to an improvement in the leaching step of the overall process of extracting gold from gold-containing materials, such as for example ores, it is to be noted that the scope of the present invention is not so limited to being restricted to the described embodiment, but rather the scope of the present invention is more extensive so as to include other methods and processes of obtaining materials of economic value and to other applications than those specifically described.
It is further to be noted that although the present invention will be described with particular reference to recovering or extracting gold, the use of this term is merely for the sake of clarity and brevity only and is not meant to be limiting to the scope of the invention in any way. Also, it is to be note that the process methods of the present invention are equally applicable to other materials of high economic value, such as for example silver, copper and other valuable or precious metals.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Existing methods for recovering or extracting gold from gold-containing or gold bearing ores consist of three separately identifiable stages. The first stage is the dissolution of the valuable component i.e. the gold, by forming a solid/liquid mixture i.e. a solution of dissolved gold. The second stage is the separation of the solids and liquids from the liquid/solid mixture to produce a "clean" solution of the liquid containing the dissolved gold or valuable component. The third stage is the extraction of the valuable component from the clean solution. The present invention is an improvement in and/or an alternative for the first two of these three stages. Thus, the present invention relates to an improvement in the steps of dissolving the gold and separating the dissolved gold solution from undissolved raw material.
Existing methods of recovering or extracting gold from solid materials using the above three stages can be generally classified in accordance with the particle size of the solid material bearing the gold that is to be treated by the method.
Firstly, for materials having a largest size of about 1 mm and having a relatively low proportion of fines (which is the term used to describe particles having a size of less than 20 micrometers), one existing method consists of forming a slurry of the solid material to be treated with a suitable leach solution and agitating the slurry so formed for a predetermined time to allow the gold to more or less fully dissolve. The undissolved solid material is then separated from the liquid leach solution by washing, thickening and/or filtering the slurry in order to provide a "clean" solution containing the gold. The separated undissolved solid material is then discarded to waste or may be retreated.
Secondly, for materials which have a largest size of about 500 micrometers and a large proportion of fines, merely dissolving the solid material in a leach solution is not feasible due to the difficulties associated with separating the undissolved solid m
REFERENCES:
patent: 3819231 (1974-06-01), Fehlner
patent: 5015351 (1991-05-01), Miller
patent: 5049248 (1991-09-01), Muralidhara et al.
patent: 5074986 (1991-12-01), Probstein et al.
patent: 5137608 (1992-08-01), Acar et al.
Burns Colin J.
Wright David J.
Mayekar Kishor
Niebling John
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