Comparative Analysis of the Recovery of Cu2+ and Au from Washing Solution of Pyrite Concentrate Slag by Two Processes

Abstract

A large amount of pyrite concentrate slag washing solution is produced in China every year, and this contains valuable components such as Cu2+ and Au. The traditional treatment method not only pollutes the environment but also wastes metal resources. For the washing solution containing Cu2+ 437 mg/L and Au 0.13 mg/L, two new processes comprehensive recovery schemes were developed and compared in this paper, namely iron powder replacement pore filtration and neutralization precipitation pore filtration. When the iron powder replacement pore filtration process was adopted, Cu2+ and Au were mainly comprehensively recovered in the form of a mixture of sponge copper and particulate gold. The test results showed that the replacement optimal conditions involved a pH of 3.0, iron powder dosage of 6 g/L, and replacement time of 3.0 h. After replacement, the filter cloth with below 1 μm pore size was used for filtration. The recovery rate of Cu2+ in the washing solution was 98.13 and the total recovery rate of Au was 95.83%. Otherwise, when the neutralization precipitation pore filtration process was adopted, Cu2+ and Au were mainly comprehensively recovered in the form of a mixture of copper hydroxide and particulate gold. The test results showed that sodium hydroxide was used as the precipitant and the optimum neutralization pH value was 6.5. After precipitation, the filter cloth with a below 1 μm pore size was used for filtration. The recovery rate of Cu2+ in the washing solution was 97.35% and the total recovery rate of Au was 93.54%. The economic benefit estimation of the two processes showed that the neutralization precipitation pore filtration process had the advantages of low material consumption, low cost and high economic benefit.