Carbon Sample Analyses As A Guide For Cip/cil Plant Optimization

In CIP, CIL, and Heap Leach gold recovery operations, a sub-optimal activated carbon performance invariably causes a significant loss of revenues. In this paper it is shown, how dedicated analyses of carbon samples can be used as a guide in plant performance optimiza­tion. Firstly, a brief outline is given of the most important methods of analyses, including the specialized methods not normally used by mining operations, but provided by carbon manufacturers. Then, a number of practical cases are discussed in which carbon sample analyses provided insight which allowed significant improvements.