A Review of Thiosulfate Leaching of Gold: Focus on Thiosulfate Consumption and Gold Recovery from Pregnant Solution
Thiosulfate leaching is a promising alternative to cyanidation, and the main hindrances for its wide commercial application are the high thiosulfate consumption and the difficult recovery of dissolved gold. In this review, the four solutions to reduce the consumption of thiosulfate, including the co...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2017-06-01
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| Series: | Metals |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/7/6/222 |
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| author | Bin Xu Wenhao Kong Qian Li Yongbin Yang Tao Jiang Xiaoliang Liu |
| author_facet | Bin Xu Wenhao Kong Qian Li Yongbin Yang Tao Jiang Xiaoliang Liu |
| author_sort | Bin Xu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Thiosulfate leaching is a promising alternative to cyanidation, and the main hindrances for its wide commercial application are the high thiosulfate consumption and the difficult recovery of dissolved gold. In this review, the four solutions to reduce the consumption of thiosulfate, including the control of reaction conditions, the use of additives, the generation of thiosulfate in situ, and the replacement of traditional cupric-ammonia catalysis, are introduced and evaluated after the presentation of background knowledge about thiosulfate consumption. The replacement of cupric-ammonia catalysis with other metals, such as nickel- and cobalt-based catalysts, is proposed. The reason is that it not only reduces thiosulfate consumption observably via decreasing the redox potential of leach solution significantly but also is beneficial to gold recovery mainly owing to eliminating the interference of cuprous thiosulfate [Cu(S2O3)3]5−. Based on the comparative analysis for five common recovery techniques of rare-noble metals from pregnant leach solution, ion-exchange resin adsorption is considered to be the most appropriate to recover aurothiosulfate [Au(S2O3)2]3− because the resin can be employed in the form of resin-in-leach/pulp and, furthermore, is able to be eluted and regenerated simultaneously at ambient temperature. At last, how to reduce the process cost of the resin adsorption technique is discussed. In order to simplify the complex two-stage elution process for loaded resins, the traditional catalysis is suggested to be replaced. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T10:04:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4347149c906948d39f597bb55527125e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4701 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T10:04:24Z |
| publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| spelling | doaj.art-4347149c906948d39f597bb55527125e2022-12-21T22:35:42ZengMDPI AGMetals2075-47012017-06-017622210.3390/met7060222met7060222A Review of Thiosulfate Leaching of Gold: Focus on Thiosulfate Consumption and Gold Recovery from Pregnant SolutionBin Xu0Wenhao Kong1Qian Li2Yongbin Yang3Tao Jiang4Xiaoliang Liu5School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, ChinaSchool of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, ChinaSchool of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, ChinaSchool of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, ChinaSchool of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, ChinaSchool of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, ChinaThiosulfate leaching is a promising alternative to cyanidation, and the main hindrances for its wide commercial application are the high thiosulfate consumption and the difficult recovery of dissolved gold. In this review, the four solutions to reduce the consumption of thiosulfate, including the control of reaction conditions, the use of additives, the generation of thiosulfate in situ, and the replacement of traditional cupric-ammonia catalysis, are introduced and evaluated after the presentation of background knowledge about thiosulfate consumption. The replacement of cupric-ammonia catalysis with other metals, such as nickel- and cobalt-based catalysts, is proposed. The reason is that it not only reduces thiosulfate consumption observably via decreasing the redox potential of leach solution significantly but also is beneficial to gold recovery mainly owing to eliminating the interference of cuprous thiosulfate [Cu(S2O3)3]5−. Based on the comparative analysis for five common recovery techniques of rare-noble metals from pregnant leach solution, ion-exchange resin adsorption is considered to be the most appropriate to recover aurothiosulfate [Au(S2O3)2]3− because the resin can be employed in the form of resin-in-leach/pulp and, furthermore, is able to be eluted and regenerated simultaneously at ambient temperature. At last, how to reduce the process cost of the resin adsorption technique is discussed. In order to simplify the complex two-stage elution process for loaded resins, the traditional catalysis is suggested to be replaced.http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/7/6/222goldthiosulfate leachingnickel- and cobalt-based catalystsgold recoveryresin adsorption |
| spellingShingle | Bin Xu Wenhao Kong Qian Li Yongbin Yang Tao Jiang Xiaoliang Liu A Review of Thiosulfate Leaching of Gold: Focus on Thiosulfate Consumption and Gold Recovery from Pregnant Solution Metals gold thiosulfate leaching nickel- and cobalt-based catalysts gold recovery resin adsorption |
| title | A Review of Thiosulfate Leaching of Gold: Focus on Thiosulfate Consumption and Gold Recovery from Pregnant Solution |
| title_full | A Review of Thiosulfate Leaching of Gold: Focus on Thiosulfate Consumption and Gold Recovery from Pregnant Solution |
| title_fullStr | A Review of Thiosulfate Leaching of Gold: Focus on Thiosulfate Consumption and Gold Recovery from Pregnant Solution |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Review of Thiosulfate Leaching of Gold: Focus on Thiosulfate Consumption and Gold Recovery from Pregnant Solution |
| title_short | A Review of Thiosulfate Leaching of Gold: Focus on Thiosulfate Consumption and Gold Recovery from Pregnant Solution |
| title_sort | review of thiosulfate leaching of gold focus on thiosulfate consumption and gold recovery from pregnant solution |
| topic | gold thiosulfate leaching nickel- and cobalt-based catalysts gold recovery resin adsorption |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/7/6/222 |
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