Mitigating iron contamination in cyanide gold extraction: Ceramic grinding media for enhanced efficiency and reduced cyanide consumption

IF 5 2区工程技术 Q1 ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL

Minerals Engineering Pub Date : 2025-09-17 DOI:10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109779

Qianfei Zhao , Yuhai Zhang , Peng Gao , Linlin Tong , Yuexin Han , Hongying Yang , Shuai Yuan

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Mechanochemical interactions during regrinding can influence the surface properties of gold concentrates and the surrounding pulp chemistry. This study compares the effects of ceramic and chrome steel grinding media on gold cyanidation performance using chemical analysis, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM–EDS), X–ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and time–of–flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF–SIMS). The results showed that ceramic grinding media generated finer particles with smoother surfaces and substantially lower iron contamination. Relative to chrome steel grinding media, ceramic grinding media increased the gold extraction from 93.3% to 95.0%, reduced sodium cyanide consumption by 10.7%, and decreased thiocyanate ion concentration by 6.5% after 24 h of leaching. Additionally, ceramic grinding media helped sustain higher dissolved oxygen levels throughout the leaching process. XPS and ToF–SIMS analyses revealed that ceramic grinding media suppressed the formation of FeOOH, FeO, and Fe–CN species on mineral surfaces, thereby improving cyanide accessibility to gold particles. These findings demonstrate that ceramic grinding media effectively regulate the interfacial chemical environment, enhancing both the efficiency and environmental sustainability of gold cyanidation.

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减轻氰化金提取中的铁污染：提高效率和减少氰化物消耗的陶瓷研磨介质

再磨过程中的机械化学相互作用会影响金精矿的表面性质和周围矿浆的化学性质。本研究采用化学分析、扫描电镜能谱（SEM-EDS）、x射线光电子能谱（XPS）和飞行时间二次离子质谱（ToF-SIMS）技术比较了陶瓷和铬钢研磨介质对金氰化性能的影响。结果表明，陶瓷研磨介质产生的颗粒更细，表面更光滑，铁污染显著降低。与铬钢研磨介质相比，陶瓷研磨介质浸出24 h后，金的浸出率由93.3%提高到95.0%，氰化钠用量降低10.7%，硫氰酸盐离子浓度降低6.5%。此外，陶瓷研磨介质有助于在整个浸出过程中维持较高的溶解氧水平。XPS和ToF-SIMS分析表明，陶瓷研磨介质抑制了FeOOH、FeO和Fe-CN在矿物表面的形成，从而提高了氰化物对金颗粒的可及性。研究结果表明，陶瓷研磨介质可有效调节界面化学环境，提高金氰化效率和环境可持续性。

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来源期刊

Minerals Engineering 工程技术-工程：化工

CiteScore

8.70

自引率

18.80%

发文量

519

审稿时长

81 days

期刊介绍： The purpose of the journal is to provide for the rapid publication of topical papers featuring the latest developments in the allied fields of mineral processing and extractive metallurgy. Its wide ranging coverage of research and practical (operating) topics includes physical separation methods, such as comminution, flotation concentration and dewatering, chemical methods such as bio-, hydro-, and electro-metallurgy, analytical techniques, process control, simulation and instrumentation, and mineralogical aspects of processing. Environmental issues, particularly those pertaining to sustainable development, will also be strongly covered.