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US 4,723,998 AGranted
Recovery of gold from carbonaceous ores by simultaneous chlorine leach and ion exchange resin adsorption process
OwnerGregory R. O'Neilinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A gold recovery process is disclosed in which the gold content of ores, including carbonaceous ores or mixtures of carbonaceous and oxide ores, is extracted by a simultaneous chlorine leach and ion exchange resin adsorption procedure. The process eliminates or reduces the degree of oxygenation and cyanidation required to conduct a standard gold extraction process.
Claims18
A process to recover gold, comprising:
- (a) wetting a gold-containing ore to form an aqueous ore slurry;
- (b) contacting said aqueous ore slurry simultaneously with
- (i) a chlorine providing compound, said chlorine providing compound being a member selected from the group consisting of chlorine gas, sodium hypochlorite, potassium hypochlorite, and mixtures of these, whereby chlorine complexes and solubilizes said gold from said ore and
- (ii) an ion exchange resin, said ion exchange resin being selective toward said complexed, solubilized gold and adsorbs said complexed, solubilized gold from said aqueous ore slurry, said resin being a member selected from the group consisting of (a) styrene-DVB copolymers having a base pH and a quaternary ammonium functional group, (b) styrene-DVB copolymers having a base pH and a tertiary amine functional group, (c) non-ionic acrylic ester polymers, (d) polystyrene polymers having a base pH and a quaternary ammonium functional group, (e) chelating styrene-DVB copolymers having an aminodiacetic functional group, (f) non-ionic polystyrene polymers and (g) mixtures of these;
- (c) separating said adsorbed gold from said aqueous ore slurry with a means for removing said gold loaded ion exchange resin;
- and
- (d) processing said gold loaded ion exchange resin by a means for stripping said gold from said resin.
4 more elements
A process to recover gold, comprising:
- (a) wetting a gold-containing carbonaceous ore to form an aqueous ore slurry;
- (b) oxidizing said aqueous ore slurry with an oxidizing compound;
- (c) contacting said aqueous ore slurry simultaneously with
- (i) a chlorine providing compound, said chlorine providing compound being a member selected from the group consisting of chlorine gas, sodium hypochlorite, potassium hypochlorite, and mixtures of these, whereby chlorine complexes and solubilizes said gold from said ore and
- (ii) an ion exchange resin, said ion exchange resin being selective toward said complexed, solubilized gold and adsorbs said complexed, solubilized gold from said aqueous ore slurry, said resin being a member selected from the group consisting of (a) styrene-DVB copolymers having a base pH and a quaternary ammonium functional group, (b) styrene-DVB copolymers having a base pH and a tertiary amine functional group, (c) non-ionic acrylic ester polymers, (d) polystyrene polymers having a base pH and a quaternary ammonium functional group, (e) chelating styrene-DVB copolymers having an aminodiacetic functional group, (f) non-ionic polystyrene polymers and (g) mixtures of these;
- (d) separating said adsorbed gold from said aqueous ore slurry with a means for removing said gold loaded ion exchange resin;
- and
- (e) processing said gold loaded ion exchange resin by a means for stripping said gold from said resin.
5 more elements
A process to recover gold, comprising:
- (a) wetting a gold-containing carbonaceous ore to form an aqueous ore slurry;
- (b) oxidizing said aqueous ore slurry with an oxidizing compound;
- (c) contacting said aqueous ore slurry simultaneously with
- (i) a chlorine providing compound to complex and solubilize said gold from said ore, said chlorine providing compound being a member selected from the group consisting of chlorine gas, sodium hypochlorite, potassium hypochlorite, and mixtures of these, and
- (ii) an ion exchange resin, said ion exchange resin being selective toward said complexed, solubilized gold and adsorbs said complexed, solubilized gold from said aqueous ore slurry, said resin being a member selected from the group consisting of (a) styrene-DVB copolymers having a base pH and a quaternary ammonium functional group, (b) styrene-DVB copolymers having a base pH and a tertiary amine functional group, (c) non-ionic acrylic ester polymers, (d) polystyrene polymers having a base pH and a quaternary ammonium functional group, (e) chelating styrene-DVB copolymers having an aminodiacetic functional group, (f) non-ionic polystyrene polymers and (g) mixtures of these;
- (d) holding said chlorinated aqueous ore slurry to eliminate hypochlorite ions, said hypochlorite ions being a product of said chlorine providing compound;
- (e) reacting said hypochlorite-free aqueous ore slurry with a cyanide compound to further leach said gold from said ore;
- (f) separating said absorbed gold from said aqueous ore slurry with a means for removing said gold loaded ion exchange resin;
- and
- (g) processing said gold loaded ion exchange resin by a means for stripping said gold from said resin.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.