Leaching Stubborn Oxidized Gold Ores That Contain Copper

Abstract

This article is devoted to the leaching of gold from copper-bearing oxidized stubborn gold ores in the Tarror deposit. The high copper content of the ores makes it difficult to extract gold from them by direct cyanidation. An analysis of the literature data indicated that ammoniacal leaching might be one solution to this problem. It is shown that the use of ammonia compounds in the cyanidation cycle makes it possible to obtain high indices for gold recovery without the accumulation of complex copper compounds in the solution. The amount of cyanide consumed in the production process is reduced accordingly.