Simultaneous extraction of gold and zinc from refractory carbonaceous gold ore by chlorination roasting process

Abstract

A novel process based on chlorination roasting was proposed to simultaneously recover gold and zinc from refractory carbonaceous gold ore by using NaCl as chlorination agent. The effects of roasting temperature, roasting time and NaCl content on the volatilization rates of gold and zinc were investigated. The reaction mechanism and the phase transition process were also analyzed by means of SEM, EDS and XRD. The results demonstrated that under the optimal conditions of NaCl content of 10%, roasting temperature of 800 °C, roasting time of 4 h and gas flow rate of 1 L/min, the rates of gold and zinc were 92% and 92.56%, respectively. During low-temperature chlorination roasting stage, a certain content of sulfur was beneficial to the chlorination reactions of gold and zinc; and during high-temperature chlorination roasting stage, the crystal structure of vanadium-bearing mica was destroyed, and the vanadium-containing oxides were beneficial to the chlorinating volatilization of gold and zinc. Eventually, the chlorinated volatiles of gold and zinc could be recovered by alkaline solution.