NEW REAGENT MODES FOR FLOTATION RECOVERY OF GOLD FROM REFRACTORY
ORES USING HERBAL EXTRACTS
MATVEEVA T.N., CHANTURIYA V.A., IVANOVA T.A., GROMOVA N.K.
Institute of Complex Exploitation of Mineral Resources, Russian Academy of Sciences (IPKON RAS)
Kryukovskiy tupic 4, Moscow 111020, Russian Federation, tel.+7-495-360-89-64, fax.+7-459-360-89-60, http://www.ipkonran.ru/, E-mail: tmatveyeva@mail.ru
ABSTRACT
The research is aimed at solving the problem of increasing the extraction of gold from refractory ores which are the main source of growth in gold production in the next decades.
The purpose of the research is the development and scientific substantiation of the reagent modes for flotation extracting of gold from refractory ores using eco-friendly low-cost herbal modifiers (HM), providing increase in gold recovery and quality of gold concentrates. In the course of research laboratory techniques for the preparation of experimental samples of HM were developed, which included the sequence of operations of grinding Heraclium leaves and stems grinding, 2-stages extraction at a temperature of 50-60 °C, short-term ultrasonic treatment, filtration and subsequent unification of extracts.
According to the developed method, the experimental samples of HM and conducted research were tested to analyze their sorption and flotation activity related to the extraction of gold from refractory gold ores.
New data on adsorption and flotation properties of Heraclium stems and leaves extracts (HSE) in selective flotation of Au-sulfide minerals were obtained using UV-spectroscopy, scanning electronic and laser microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The dimensions and shapes of adsorbed hydrophilic films of herbal reagents were identified and mechanism of formation of stable insoluble compounds on the surface of minerals in flotation was explained.
Research flotation tests carried out on samples of 2 samples of refractory gold ore deposits of one of Russia deposits showed the possibility of effective use of herbal modifiers to improve qualitative and quantitative indicators of enrichment compared with the standard reagent regime.
Using herbal modifiers in an amount of 5 to 10 ml of the extract (300 - 600 g / t, respectively) improves the quality of the concentrate: gold content attains 14.7 g / t, 1.34 times higher than in the baseline experiment and It provides a gain of 3.13% extraction.
The developed reagent regime with herbal modifiers is the author's original design, patented (patent of the
Russian Federation) and have no analogues in the world of mineral processing. (Application number
2015116125 from 04.28.2015, "The method of flotation separation of sulfide minerals using herbal modifier", Russia).
Actual application of new plant extracts as modifiers in flotation of sulfide minerals is the possibility of replacing of highly toxic chemical compounds by environmentally safe substances of plant origin.
Implementation of the developed methods of extracting gold from refractory minerals with herbal modifiers will help to improve gold recovery at 3-5% and the quality concentrate of not less than 1.2 times, leading to higher productivity and a reduction of the negative man-made effects on the environment .
KEYWORDS
Refractory gold ore, Phase structure, Adsorption, Flotation reagents - herbal modifiers.