A process for recovering gold from ores
AssigneeBromine Compounds Ltd.
InventorsRonen NAIM, Ronny COSTI, Hanan SERTCHOOK, Ran ELAZARI
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A process for recovering gold from a refractory gold ore, comprising the steps of: electrolyzing a mixture consisting of the ore particles and an aqueous bromide solution in an electrolytic cell having anode and cathode, wherein bromine is produced at the anode by oxidation of the bromide, thereby dissolving gold in the aqueous phase; separating the ore particles from the aqueous phase to obtain a leach liquor; adjusting the pH of the leach liquor to the alkaline range to produce a gold-containing precipitate; collecting the gold-containing precipitate and recycling a bromide-containing barren solution for reuse as an aqueous bromide feed solution.
Claims9
A process for recovering gold from a refractory gold ore, comprising the steps of:
- electrolyzing a mixture consisting of the ore particles and an aqueous bromide solution in an electrolytic cell having anode and cathode, wherein bromine is produced at the anode by oxidation of the bromide, thereby dissolving gold in the aqueous phase;
- separating the ore particles from the aqueous phase to obtain a leach liquor;
- adjusting the pH of the leach liquor to the alkaline range to produce a gold-containing precipitate;
- collecting the gold-containing precipitate and recycling a bromide-containing barren solution for reuse as an aqueous bromide feed solution.
A process for recovering gold from a refractory gold ore in an electrolytic cell having anodic and cathodic compartments, comprising the steps of:
- feeding an anolyte to the anodic compartment, the anolyte being a mixture of the ore particles and an aqueous bromide solution;
- feeding a catholyte to the catholyte compartment, the catholyte being AuBr2 and/or AuBr-r ions-containing pregnant leach solution, which was obtained after the leaching of a refractory gold ore with an aqueous bromine/bromide lixiviant;
- applying an electrical voltage across the electrodes, thereby oxidizing bromide to bromine at the anode to dissolve gold in the anolyte and reducing water at the cathode to create an alkaline environment and precipitate a gold-containing solid in the catholyte;
- separating the ore particles from the anolyte stream to obtain a leach liquor;
- separating the gold-containing precipitate from the catholyte to collect the gold-containing precipitate and obtain bromide-containing barren solution for reuse as an aqueous bromide feed solution.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.