Study of Sulfuric Acid and Hydrochloric Acid as Acid Wash Reagents to Remove Ag, Cu and Fe

Abstract

In Indonesia there are several areas that have gold deposit reserves, one of which is located in Bakan Village, North Sulawesi. Gold ore in Bakan Village is extracted by heap leaching method by PT. J Resources Bolaang Mongondow. This study aims to analyze and compare 1 M sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4 ) and 3% hydrochloric acid (HCL) as acid wash reagents to remove Ag, Cu and Fe. This acid wash study was carried out using the bottle roller test method using two different reagents, sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid. The results of the research on the acid wash process The results showed that the effective reagent in dissolving base metals was 1 M sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4 ) with the solubility percentage of each element as follows Ag 0.3%, Cu 20.2%, Fe 60.4%. Meanwhile, 3% hydrochloric acid was only able to dissolve Ag 0.4%, Cu 4.3% and 4.3% Fe.