Surfactants for Gold Recovery Improvement with Preg-Robbing Gold Ores

As part of a general review of processing double refractory ores through Barrick GoldÆs autoclaves /carbon-in-leach (CIL) facility at Goldstrike, a study was made to evaluate the use of surfactants for reducing the loss of gold during cyanide leaching of preg-robbing gold ores. Consistent improvement of gold recovery was observed with surfactants at various testing conditions. This paper will discuss the results obtained from laboratory and pilot-scale testing, as well as, review potential mechanisms for the observed improvement in gold recovery.CITATION:Zhou, Q, Barrett, G, Jiang, J and Choi, Y, 2013. Surfactants for gold recovery improvement with preg-robbing gold ores, in Proceedings World Gold 2013 , pp 367-372 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).