Gold Ore Processing

Chapter 1. Gold – An Historical Introduction

• 1. Gold in Ancient Egypt
• 2. Early Gold-Mining Centers
• 3. Gold and Alchemy
• 4. Uses of Gold
• 5. Occurrence of Gold
• 6. Processing of Gold Ores
• 7. Gold Standards and Assaying
• 8. Gold in Currency
• 9. Banks
• 10. Gold Museums

Part I. Project Development

Economic Evaluation of Gold Projects

• Chapter 2. Overview of the Gold Mining Industry and Major Gold Deposits
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Gold Discovery and Deposits
  • 3. Gold Production
• Chapter 3. Evaluation and Funding of Capital Projects in Mining
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Evaluation of Capital Projects in Mining
  • 3. Principles of Project Financials and Assessment
  • 4. Common Errors
  • 5. Project Risk
  • 6. Financing of the Project

Feasibility Study Management

• Chapter 4. Sampling Procedures
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Sampling Basics
  • 3. Components of Sampling Error
  • 4. Percussion Hole Sampling
  • 5. Blast-Hole Sampling
  • 6. Plant Sampling
  • 7. Sampling from Stationary Situations
  • 8. Sample Preparation
  • 9. Conclusions
• Chapter 5. Mineralogical Investigation of Gold Ores
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Gold Mineralogy
  • 3. Process Mineralogy of Gold
  • 4. Methodology for Studying Gold Minerals
  • 5. Instrumental Analysis for Gold
  • 6. Concluding Remarks
• Chapter 6. Geometallurgical Characterization and Automated Mineralogy of Gold Ores
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Geometallurgy Overview
  • 3. Geometallurgical Characterization of Gold Ores
  • 4. Automated Mineralogy of Gold Ores
  • 5. Summary and Conclusions
• Chapter 7. Process Flowsheet Selection
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Comminution Process Options
  • 3. Free-Milling Ore Process Options
  • 4. Complex Ore Process Options
  • 5. Refractory Ore Process Options
  • 6. Refractory Process Selection
  • 7. Factors for Consideration in Refractory Gold Process Selection
  • 8. Discussion
  • 9. Recent Commercial-Scale Technical Developments
• Chapter 8. Metallurgical Test Work: Gold Processing Options, Physical Ore Properties, and Cyanide Management
  • 1. Background
  • 2. Ore Preparation and Assessment
• Chapter 9. Process Simulation and Modeling
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Benefits of Simulation
  • 3. Classification of Simulation Models
  • 4. Steady-State Continuous Simulation
  • 5. Dynamic Continuous Simulation
  • 6. Dynamic Discrete Simulation
  • 7. Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • 8. Selecting a Good Simulation Package
  • 9. Comminution and Size-Separation Simulations
  • 10. Gold Extraction Simulations
  • 11. The Future of Process Simulation
• Chapter 10. Feasibility Study Plant Design
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. General Site Issues
  • 3. Crushing and Ore Storage
  • 4. Grinding
  • 5. Gravity Concentration
  • 6. Leaching and Adsorption
  • 7. Cyanide Detoxification and Tailings Disposal
  • 8. Elution and Gold Room
  • 9. Flotation
  • 10. Refractory Ore Processing
  • 11. Services and Utilities
  • 12. Special Issues for Large Facilities
  • 13. Constructability
  • 14. Pitfalls in Feasibility Design

Commissioning

• Chapter 11. Commissioning
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. An Overview
  • 3. Impact of Project Size, Contracting Strategy, and Process Complexity
  • 4. Commissioning Planning
  • 5. Precommissioning
  • 6. Process Commissioning
  • 7. Performance Verification and Testing
  • 8. Postcommissioning Optimization
  • 9. Definitions

Safety, Process Control and Environmental Management

• Chapter 12. The International Cyanide Management Code: Ensuring Best Practice in the Gold Industry
  • 1. Background
  • 2. Continuing Code Development 2002–2005
  • 3. The Cyanide Code
  • 4. The Cyanide Code's Evolution
  • 5. Is the Cyanide Code a Success?
  • 6. Benefits and Costs
  • 7. Challenges
• Chapter 13. Approaches to Cyanide Code Compliance for Tailings Storage Facilities
  • 1. Background
  • 2. The International Cyanide Management Code
  • 3. Tailings Storage Facilities
  • 4. Moving Toward Compliance with the Code
  • 5. Conclusions
• Chapter 14. Process Control
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Measurements
  • 3. Basics of Process Control
  • 4. Advanced Control and Optimization

Closure and Rehabilitation

• Chapter 15. Closure and Rehabilitation of Gold-Processing Plants
  • 1. Process Closure and Clean-up
  • 2. Relocation and Sale – Owners' Perspectives
  • 3. Relocation and Sale – The Marketing Manager's Perspectives
  • 4. Scrap, Recycle, and Reuse
  • 5. Consideration of Heritage Values Before Closure and Decommissioning
  • 6. Infrastructure Removal and Site Decommissioning
  • 7. Closure Plant Sites – Contamination and Risk
  • 8. Final Land Use and Rehabilitation – Plant Sites
• Chapter 16. Closure and Rehabilitation of Gold Mines with a Focus on Tailings Storage Facilities
  • 1. Standards and Closure Criteria
  • 2. Closure Preparation, Provisioning, and Planning
  • 3. Stakeholder Engagement and Acceptance of Plans
  • 4. Decommission Planning, Rehabilitation, and Closure
  • 5. Postclosure Management, Monitoring, and Relinquishment
  • 6. Conclusions

Part II. Unit Operations

Comminution and Solid-LiquidSeparation

• Chapter 17. Comminution Circuits for Gold Ore Processing
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Comminution Circuit Design Considerations
  • 3. Mining Factors
  • 4. Primary Crushing, and Stockpile Management
  • 5. Primary Milling
  • 6. Secondary Milling
  • 7. Gold Recovery in Comminution Circuits
  • 8. Alternative Grinding Technologies
  • 9. Ore Sorting
• Chapter 18. Liquid–Solid Separation in Gold Processing
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Sedimentation
  • 3. Filtration
  • 4. Conclusions

Concentration

• Chapter 19. Advances in Gravity Gold Technology
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Centrifuge Units
  • 3. Gold Rooms: Tabling and Intensive Cyanidation
  • 4. Measuring Metallurgical Performance
  • 5. Conclusions and Future Trends
• Chapter 20. Flotation of Gold and Gold-Bearing Ores
  • 1. Background
  • 2. Collectorless Flotation of Naturally Occurring Gold
  • 3. Collectors in Gold Flotation
  • 4. Frothers in Gold Flotation
  • 5. Activators in Gold Flotation
  • 6. Depression of Gold in Flotation
  • 7. Flotation of Gold and Gold-Bearing Minerals
  • 8. Influence of Conditions on Gold Flotation
  • 9. Flotation Circuits
  • 10. Flotation Practice

Oxidation of Sulfide Ores and Concentrates

• Chapter 21. Pressure Oxidation Overview
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Gold Pressure Oxidation
  • 3. Acidic Pressure Oxidation – Whole Ore
  • 4. Alkaline Pressure Oxidation–Whole Ore
  • 5. Acid and Alkaline Autoclave–Comparison
  • 6. Acidic Pressure Oxidation–Concentrate
  • 7. Pressure-Oxidation Summary
• Chapter 22. Bacterial Oxidation of Refractory Gold Concentrates
  • 1. Introduction and Background
  • 2. Bacterial-Oxidation Plant Design and Practice
  • 3. Comparison of Bacterial Oxidation with Process Alternatives
• Chapter 23. Roasting Developments – Especially Oxygenated Roasting
  • 1. Rabble Roasters
  • 2. Fluidized-Bed Roasters
  • 3. CFB Roasters
  • 4. Oxygenated Roasters
  • 5. Oxygenated Roasting
• Chapter 24. Roasting of Gold Ore in the Circulating Fluidized-Bed Technology
  • 1. History of Gold Ore Circulating Fluidized-Bed Roasting Technology
  • 2. Fluid-Dynamic Background of Roasting and Pilot Testing
  • 3. Some Advanced Metallurgical and Mineral Applications
  • 4. Performance of Existing CFB Gold Roasters
  • 5. Conclusions

Leaching

• Chapter 25. Heap Leaching of Gold and Silver Ores
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Factors Influencing Heap Leach Efficiency
  • 3. Design
  • 4. Conclusions
• Chapter 26. Advances in the Cyanidation of Gold
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Mechanism of Cyanidation
  • 3. Control Strategy for Cyanide, Oxygen, and Lead Nitrate
  • 4. Applications
  • 5. Conclusions
• Chapter 27. Alternative Lixiviants to Cyanide for Leaching Gold Ores
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Thiosulfate Leaching
  • 3. Thiourea Leaching
  • 4. Halide Leaching
  • 5. Oxidative Chloride Leach Processes
  • 6. Sulfide/Bisulfide/Sulfite Leaching
  • 7. Ammonia Leaching
  • 8. Bacterial and Natural Acid Leaching
  • 9. Thiocyanate Leaching
  • 10. Recovery Processes
  • 11. Economic Evaluation
  • 12. Environmental Concerns
  • 13. Conclusions
• Chapter 28. Thiosulfate as an Alternative Lixiviant to Cyanide for Gold Ores
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Thiosulfate Leaching Chemistry
  • 3. Copper Ammoniacal Thiosulfate System
  • 4. Influence of Mineralogy on Thiosulfate Leaching
  • 5. Impact of Certain Cations and Anions Species on Precious Metal Dissolution and Thiosulfate Degradation
  • 6. Alternative Oxidant Thiosulfate Systems
  • 7. Recovery Processes
  • 8. Application of Thiosulfate to Treatment of Ores
  • 9. Economic Considerations
  • 10. Environmental Issues
  • 11. Summary and Conclusions
• Chapter 29. Chloride as an Alternative Lixiviant to Cyanide for Gold Ores
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Chloride-Based Processes for Gold Leaching
  • 3. Commercial Chlorination Leaching Plants
  • 4. Outlook for Direct Choride-Based Leaching of Gold

Gold Recovery

• Chapter 30. Carbon-in-Pulp
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Activated Carbon
  • 3. Modeling CIP Circuits
  • 4. Circuit Design and Carbon Management Considerations
  • 5. Conclusions
• Chapter 31. Zinc Cementation
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Chemistry
  • 3. History
  • 4. Application
  • 5. Basic Flowsheet
  • 6. Equipment
  • 7. Design Criteria
  • 8. Operations
  • 9. Advances
• Chapter 32. Resin-in-Pulp and Resin-in-Solution
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Solution Chemistry of Cyanided Gold Pulps
  • 3. Development of Gold-Selective Resins
  • 4. Elution of Different Resin Types
  • 5. Resin Evaluation Techniques
  • 6. Relative Cost Comparison of RIP versus CIP
  • 7. Recovery of Gold from Preg-Robbing Ores
  • 8. Resin-in-Solution
  • 9. RIP Plants
  • 10. Conclusions
• Chapter 33. Electrowinning
  • 1. Background
  • 2. Historical Developments
  • 3. Electrowinning Cell Design
  • 4. Special Applications
  • 5. Key Aspects of Electrowinning Cell Design and Operation
• Chapter 34. Refining of Gold- and Silver-Bearing Doré
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Industry Structure and the Gold and Silver Refining Business
  • 3. Gold and Silver Doré
  • 4. Refining of High-Gold Doré Materials
  • 5. Refining of High-Silver Doré Materials
  • 6. Deleterious Elements in Refining of Gold and Silver Doré
  • 7. Future Developments in Doré Refining

Disposal of Residues

• Chapter 35. Cyanide Treatment: Physical, Chemical, and Biological Processes
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Cyanide Management Plan
  • 3. Analysis of Cyanide
  • 4. Biological Cyanide Destruction Processes
  • 5. Chemical Treatment Processes
  • 6. Natural Cyanide Attenuation
  • 7. Treatment of Cyanide-Related Compounds
  • 8. Effluent and Discharge Strategies
  • 9. Summary
• Chapter 36. Cyanide Recovery
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Theoretical Background
  • 3. Practical Considerations
  • 4. Process Alternatives
  • 5. Environmental, Social, Health, and Safety Benefits of Cyanide Recycling
  • 6. Conclusions
• Chapter 37. Tailings Storage Facilities
  • 1. Evolution of Tailings Management
  • 2. Past Failures
  • 3. Constraints and Drivers
  • 4. Tailings Characterization
  • 5. Risk-Based Design
  • 6. Recent Advances
  • 7. Tailings Water Management
  • 8. TSF Closure and Completion
  • 9. Future Possibilities
• Chapter 38. Water Management in Gold Ore Processing
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Characterization of Predevelopment Conditions
  • 3. Water Supply
  • 4. Tailing Hydrology
  • 5. Heap-Leach Hydrology
  • 6. Site-Wide Water Balance
  • 7. Discharge of Excess Water from the Site
  • 8. Stormwater Management
  • 9. Surface Water and Groundwater Protection
  • 10. Summary and Conclusions
• Chapter 39. Retreatment of Gold Residues
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Evaluation Phases
  • 3. Sampling and Metallurgical Testwork
  • 4. Evaluation
  • 5. Operational Phase
  • 6. Metallurgical Treatment
  • 7. Environmental Rehabilitation
  • 8. Process Flowsheets
• Chapter 40. Practical Considerations in the Hydro Re-Mining of Gold Tailings
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Reclamation Methods
  • 3. Starting Up an Re-Mining Site
  • 4. Hydraulic Re-Mining
  • 5. Conclusions
• Chapter 41. Developments in Arsenic Management in the Gold Industry
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Chemistry and Precipitation of Arsenic
  • 3. Stabilization Processes
  • 4. Stability Testing and Regulatory Requirements
  • 5. Conclusions
• Chapter 42. Mercury in Gold Processing
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Mercury Deportment in Gold Processing
  • 3. Mercury in Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining
  • 4. Mercury Analysis
  • 5. Mercury Control Technologies for Gaseous Streams
  • 6. Legal Framework
  • 7. Stabilization of Elemental Mercury
  • 8. Above-Ground Storage of Elemental Mercury
  • 9. Disposal – Underground
  • 10. Conclusions

Part III. Case Study Flowsheets

Polymetallic Ores

• Chapter 43. Gold-Copper Ores
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Chemistry of Copper Cyanides
  • 3. Gold Recovery
  • 4. Processes for Treating High-Copper Gold Ores
  • 5. Copper and Cyanide Recovery Processes
  • 6. Cyanide Recovery from Copper Cyanide
  • 7. Alternative Lixiviants
• Chapter 44. Case Study Flowsheets: Copper–Gold Concentrate Treatment
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Background of Sulfide Leaching
  • 3. Copper–Gold Concentrate Treatment Processes
  • 4. Conclusions
• Chapter 45. Processing of High-Silver Gold Ores
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Fundamentals
  • 3. Flow Sheet Selection
  • 4. Indicative Plant Design Criteria
  • 5. Conclusions
• Chapter 46. Recovery of Gold as By-Product from the Base-Metals Industries
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Recovery of Gold in Copper Smelters
  • 3. Recovery of Gold as a Byproduct from Nickel Sulfide Ores
  • 4. Recovery of Gold in Zinc Smelters
  • 5. Recovery of Gold from Lead Concentrates
  • 6. Recovery of Gold from Cobalt Concentrates
  • 7. Recovery of Gold from the Recycling of Electronic Scrap
  • 8. Direct Leaching of Gold and PGMs from Ores or Concentrates
  • 9. Conclusions
• Chapter 47. Extraction of Gold from Platinum Group Metal Ores
  • 1. Primary Extraction Circuits
  • 2. Gold Extraction from Secondary Sources
  • 3. Hydrometallurgical Gold Processes in Precious Metal Refineries
  • 4. Conclusions

Refractory Ores

• Chapter 48. Refractory Sulfide Ores—Case Studies
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Sansu Project, Ashanti Goldfields Corporation (Ghana)
  • 3. Kanowna Belle Project (Western Australia)
  • 4. Macraes Gold Project (New Zealand)
• Chapter 49. Preg-Robbing Gold Ores
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Carbonaceous Matter and Gold Adsorption
  • 3. Treatment of Carbonaceous Ore
  • 4. Noncarbonaceous Preg-Robbing
  • 5. Examples of Plant Practice
  • 6. Practical Ore Characterization
• Chapter 50. Double-Refractory Carbonaceous Sulfidic Gold Ores
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Processing Alternatives
  • 3. Process Facilities in Nevada
• Chapter 51. Treatment of Gold–Telluride Ores
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Historical Treatment Methods
  • 3. Modern Developments
• Chapter 52. Treatment of Antimonial Gold Ores
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Fundamentals
  • 3. Commercial Operations
  • 4. New Plant Design

Other Gold-Bearing Materials

• Chapter 53. Gold – A Key Enabler of a Circular Economy: Recycling of Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment
  • 1. A Circular Economy – Gold's Key Role
  • 2. Product-Centric Recycling of Gold – Enabling a Circular Economy
  • 3. Opportunities and Limits of Recycling of Gold From WEEE
  • 4. Designing a CE – Quantifying the Resource Efficiency of Figure 53.1
  • 5. Conclusion: Enabling System-Integrated Metal Production of the CE
  • Glossary

Summary of Gold Plants and Processes, Emerging and Transformational Technologies

• Chapter 54. Summary of Gold Plants and Processes
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Summary of Gold Plants and Processes
  • 3. Conclusions
• Chapter 55. Emerging and Transformational Gold Processing Technologies
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Moore's Law and Gold Processing Technologies
• 3. Cyanide: A Sustainable Future in Gold Ore Processing?
• 4. Fire and Water: Will Hydroprocessing Supersede Smelting?
• 5. In Situ and Solution Mining
• 6. Gold Demand: Future Uses for Gold Products
• 7. Gold Supply: Nontraditional Sources
• 8. Outlook for Transformative Gold Processing