Gold pool leaching process is a method of extracting gold from gold ore using cyanide solution. The process involves contacting the ore with a cyanide solution to react gold with cyanide to form a soluble gold cyanide complex, and then extracting the gold from the solution through steps such as adsorption, washing and electrolysis. It is particularly suitable for low-grade gold ores and gold resources that are difficult to process using traditional mineral processing methods. This article will introduce the gold pool leaching process in detail, including principles, process flow and equipment requirements.
First, the gold ore is crushed and ground to fully dissociate the gold minerals. The grinding fineness is usually determined according to the ore properties and subsequent leaching effect. Generally, the ore particle size is required to reach a certain level to increase the contact area between gold and cyanide solution. The ore after crushing and grinding is screened to remove oversized particles and impurities to ensure uniform ore particle size.
Pile the prepared ore in the leaching pool to form a pile. The height and shape of the pile are designed according to the actual situation, and generally require good air permeability and stability. A spray system is installed above the pile to evenly spray the prepared cyanide solution on the pile. The spray intensity and frequency are adjusted according to the ore properties and leaching requirements to ensure that the solution can fully penetrate into the pile and contact with the gold minerals.
The cyanide solution gradually penetrates into the ore pile under the action of gravity and reacts with the gold minerals. During the leaching process, the pH value, cyanide concentration, oxygen content and other parameters of the solution need to be kept within a suitable range to increase the leaching rate of gold. In order to accelerate the leaching reaction, stirring and ventilation can be used to increase the oxygen content in the solution and promote the dissolution of gold. At the same time, the leaching solution is sampled and analyzed regularly to monitor the leaching of gold and the content of impurities in the solution.
The leached solution flows out from the bottom of the ore pile and is collected into the solution pool through the collection system. The solution in the solution pool is treated by precipitation, filtration and other treatments to remove solid impurities. The treated solution is used to recover gold. Common recovery methods include activated carbon adsorption, ion exchange resin adsorption, zinc powder replacement, etc. The recovered gold can be further refined to obtain high-purity gold products.
The leached ore pile becomes tailings and needs to be properly treated. The tailings may contain residual cyanide and other harmful substances, which need to be detoxified to reduce the impact on the environment. The detoxified tailings can be landfilled, stored, etc., or they can be used for comprehensive utilization, such as in the production of building materials.
Pool leaching process requires a variety of equipment to perform different process steps, including crushers, ball mills, leaching pools, agitators, activated carbon tanks, sedimentation tanks, filter cloths or filter presses, desorption tanks, condensers and smelting equipment, etc.
Crushers/ball mills: Commonly used are jaw crushers (coarse crushing), cone crushers (medium crushing); grid ball mills (coarse grinding), overflow ball mills (fine grinding), and the matching classification equipment is mainly spiral classifiers and hydrocyclones.
Leaching pools: Usually built of concrete or impermeable materials, with certain strength and impermeability to prevent solution leakage. The size and shape of the leaching pool are determined according to the production scale and ore processing volume.
Spraying system: including spray pipes, nozzles, pumps and other equipment, which can evenly spray cyanide solution on the ore pile. The design of the spraying system should consider factors such as spraying intensity, coverage and stability.
Solution treatment equipment: sedimentation tanks, filters, etc. are used to remove solid impurities in the leachate. Others include activated carbon adsorption devices, ion exchange resin columns, and zinc powder replacement equipment.
Gold ore pool leaching process is a mature gold extraction technology, which effectively extracts gold from gold ore through a series of chemical reactions and physical processes. With the advancement of technology and the improvement of environmental protection requirements, the future pool leaching process will pay more attention to efficiency, cost control and environmental sustainability. In practical applications, it is necessary to comprehensively consider factors such as ore properties, production requirements and environmental protection to select the appropriate gold extraction process.
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