The Effects of Pulp Rheology on Gravity Gold Recovery in Free Milling Gold Ore of the Tarkwaian Systems of Ghana

Abstract

ABSTRACT Gravity gold characterization provides a comprehensive understanding on the effect of mineralogy, particle size, and liberation on gravity concentrator performance. This is of significant economic importance for gold ores with a high amount of coarse gold particles. In this study, the effect of pulp rheology on gravity recoverable gold (GRG) was investigated using a single-stage GRG test on paleoplacer gold deposits of the Tarkwaian system of Ghana. The elemental and mineralogical composition of the gold ore was characterized using ICP-MS, XRD, and QEMSCAN analyses. Bench-scale gravity concentration was performed on the gold ore at varying clay contents (in the range of 5–30 wt.%) using Lab Knelson concentrator in the absence and presence of NaOH (2.5 kg/t) and CaO (2.5 kg/t). The mineralogical analysis showed the ore is oxidized and comprised 88% Quartz, 8% muscovite mica, 2% hematite, and 2% kaolinite. Liberation and association analyses showed 58% of the gold particles were liberated, 1% formed binary with quartz, and 41% formed complex aggregates with other mineral phases. The gravity concentration of the ore without clay material yielded 51% Au recovery (11.2 g/t) at the grind size of 80% passing 106 µm. Partial replacement of the ore with clay material at 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 30% decreased gold recovery from 51% to 25.7%, 12.7%, 8.8%, 5.1%, and 1.5%, respectively. Subsequent conditioning of the slurry with NaOH improved gold recovery due to possible improvement in slurry rheology. However, the addition of CaO decreased gold recovery due to an increase in slurry viscosity.