An environmentally friendly method for efficient atmospheric oxidation of pyrrhotite in arsenopyrite/pyrite calcine

Abstract

Pyrite and arsenopyrite are the most common hosts for invisible gold, but pyrite and arsenic are refractory during conventional sulfide oxidation, which significantly challenges subsequent gold extraction. One option is high-temperature pretreatment of arsenical materials to sequester > 90% of the arsenic as a gas, then convert it to a stable form. This process produces a calcine similar in composition to pyrrhotite (Fe1-xS) but with higher porosity. In this study, the calcine product is oxidized with an efficient, cost-effective atmospheric process using acidic and near-neutral solutions. A sulfur mass balance analysis method based on iron sulfide thermal transformation in nitrogen atmosphere was developed to quantify the oxidation efficiency of pyrrhotite leaching. The optimization confirmed that > 90% of the calcine was oxidized by Fe3+ (5 and 10 g/L) and O2 (0.5 L/min) at pH 1 after 48 h and at 95 °C even without ultrafine grinding. Elemental sulfur was the main oxidation product when the oxidation pH was 1,2. This study provides the foundation for the development of a low-cost and environmentally friendly process option for pretreatment of arsenical sulfide refractory gold materials.