US20090158893A1 - Microbial pre-treatment of double refractory gold ores - Google Patents

Microbial pre-treatment of double refractory gold ores Download PDF

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US20090158893A1
US20090158893A1 US12/277,046 US27704608A US2009158893A1 US 20090158893 A1 US20090158893 A1 US 20090158893A1 US 27704608 A US27704608 A US 27704608A US 2009158893 A1 US2009158893 A1 US 2009158893A1
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feed material
gold
carbon
fungal agent
preg robbing
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Wan-Tai Yen
Richard Kwasi Amankwah
Yeonuk Choi
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Barrick Gold Corp
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Barrick Gold Corp
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    • CCHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C22METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
    • C22BPRODUCTION AND REFINING OF METALS; PRETREATMENT OF RAW MATERIALS
    • C22B11/00Obtaining noble metals
    • C22B11/04Obtaining noble metals by wet processes
    • CCHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C22METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
    • C22BPRODUCTION AND REFINING OF METALS; PRETREATMENT OF RAW MATERIALS
    • C22B1/00Preliminary treatment of ores or scrap
    • C22B1/02Roasting processes
    • C22B1/06Sulfating roasting
    • CCHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C22METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
    • C22BPRODUCTION AND REFINING OF METALS; PRETREATMENT OF RAW MATERIALS
    • C22B1/00Preliminary treatment of ores or scrap
    • C22B1/11Removing sulfur, phosphorus or arsenic other than by roasting
    • CCHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C22METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
    • C22BPRODUCTION AND REFINING OF METALS; PRETREATMENT OF RAW MATERIALS
    • C22B11/00Obtaining noble metals
    • C22B11/08Obtaining noble metals by cyaniding
    • CCHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C22METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
    • C22BPRODUCTION AND REFINING OF METALS; PRETREATMENT OF RAW MATERIALS
    • C22B3/00Extraction of metal compounds from ores or concentrates by wet processes
    • C22B3/18Extraction of metal compounds from ores or concentrates by wet processes with the aid of microorganisms or enzymes, e.g. bacteria or algae
    • CCHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C22METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
    • C22BPRODUCTION AND REFINING OF METALS; PRETREATMENT OF RAW MATERIALS
    • C22B3/00Extraction of metal compounds from ores or concentrates by wet processes
    • C22B3/20Treatment or purification of solutions, e.g. obtained by leaching
    • C22B3/22Treatment or purification of solutions, e.g. obtained by leaching by physical processes, e.g. by filtration, by magnetic means, or by thermal decomposition
    • C22B3/24Treatment or purification of solutions, e.g. obtained by leaching by physical processes, e.g. by filtration, by magnetic means, or by thermal decomposition by adsorption on solid substances, e.g. by extraction with solid resins
    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02PCLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
    • Y02P10/00Technologies related to metal processing
    • Y02P10/20Recycling

Definitions

  • the invention relates generally to hydrometallurgical gold recovery processes and particularly to biological processes for recovering gold from refractory and double refractory materials.
  • preg robbing occurs when active carbon, indigenous to the ore, complexes with the gold dissolved in cyanide leach solutions, thereby reducing gold recovery.
  • TCM Total Carbonaceous Material
  • preg robbing is a generic term and can refer to any of several phenomenon related to an ore's Total Carbonaceous Material (TCM). Not only can preg robbing be caused by activated carbon, but also it can be caused either by high molecular weight hydrocarbons usually associated with the activated carbon or by organic acids, such as humic acid, having functional groups capable of interacting with gold complexes to form organic gold compounds.
  • Gold deposits currently processed throughout the world are sulfidic in nature and may contain the gold in a form that is inaccessible to lixiviants.
  • Gold is frequently present in these ores as very finely disseminated particles encapsulated by a sulfide mineral structure.
  • the inaccessibility of the gold to the lixiviant has been overcome by oxidizing the sulfides contained in the ore, thereby liberating gold particles from the sulfide matrix and rendering the gold amenable to cyanidation.
  • Some ores are characterized as double refractory because they are both sulfide refractory and preg robbing carbonaceous refractory.
  • Flotation is most successful when a small proportion of gold is associated with the preg robbing carbonaceous matter in the ore.
  • the carbonaceous matter is floated off and discarded.
  • the remaining ore is then processed using conventional cyanidation techniques. This technique, however, does not work for ores in which considerable quantities of gold are associated with the carbonaceous component.
  • blanking agents such as kerosene, fuel oil, and RV-2 (para nitro benzol azo salicylic acid), adsorb selectively onto the surface of activated carbon in carbonaceous ores, thereby deactivating some of the preg robbing character.
  • Fuel oils exhibit a high affinity for carbonaceous material, particularly graphitic carbon, and adhere to hydrophobic surfaces of carbonaceous matter, thereby reducing its adsorptive capacity. Because fuel oil is lighter than water it will not separate readily from the ore solids in the slurry after leaching. This entrainment causes problems in subsequent operations, particularly liquid solid separation.
  • Carbonaceous matter can also be destroyed by roasting. This is the current industry standard for simultaneously destroying the carbonaceous matter while oxidizing sulfide minerals in double refractory gold ores. This process is generally, but not always, successful and depends upon the temperature of roasting. Very high temperatures are often required to combust some preg robbing carbon species. Roasting plants operate in a narrow range of temperature tolerance. Below optimum temperature, the carbon in the ore is not oxidized and remains actively preg robbing. Above the optimum temperature, the gold in the ore becomes increasingly less amenable to cyanidation or other extraction techniques. Because of the degrading gold recovery with higher roasting temperatures, many roasters are operated toward the lower side of the temperature range. Roaster efficiency in a plant environment tends to vary widely with variation in feed stock. Roasting may not be suitable or economical for ores that contain low levels of sulfide and high levels of carbonates, because the roasting is not autogenous
  • Activated carbon or resin can be added to leach solutions to preferentially adsorb gold-cyanide. This process depends on the adsorbent having a stronger affinity for gold than the than the carbonaceous matter in the ore. This process is not effective when the ore contains large amounts of carbonaceous matter. It has also been reported that native carbonaceous matter has the ability to adsorb the gold cyanide complex four times faster than activated carbon. (B. J. Scheiner, Relation of Mineralogy to Treatment Methods for Carbonaceous Gold Ores , Society of Mining Engineers, 87-96, pp 1-6, 1987).
  • U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,480 discloses a method for pressure oxidizing carbonaceous refractory ores.
  • the method employs a combination of very fine sizing of the ore feed with severe pressure oxidation processing to oxidize and/or passivate the preg robbing organic carbonaceous material.
  • pressure oxidation can partially deactivate the indigenous carbon, it is often unable to deactivate the preg robbing carbon in highly preg robbing ores.
  • pressure oxidation has been shown, in some instances, to activate carbonaceous matter.
  • U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,788 employs bio-oxidation to treat double refractory sulfide and carbonaceous gold ores.
  • the process uses bacteria to biologically degrade sulfide minerals and liberate precious metal values so that they can be recovered by conventional technologies.
  • the most widely used and studied bacteria for this process is Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans .
  • a blinding agent such as “Actinol FA1” (a form of Toll Oil), is used to bind the preg robbing carbon to obtain satisfactory gold yields from carbonaceous ores.
  • U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,244,493 and 5,127,942 disclose a process for treating double refractory ores in which bio-oxidation of sulfidic minerals is followed by microbial treatment to reduce the effects of preg robbing carbon.
  • This treatment uses a consortium of bacterial comprising at least two bacteria selected from the group consisting of Pseudomonas maltophilia, Pseudomonas oryzihabitans, Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Pseudomonas stutzeri, Achromobacter species, Arthrobacter species, and Rhodococcus species.
  • the blanking agent disclosed in this patent is a product of the above microbial consortium (column 2, line 17).
  • the disadvantage of this patent is that the deactivation of preg robbing carbon is facilitated by addition of a chelating agent at very high dosages.
  • the present invention is directed generally to the recovery of gold and other precious metals from refractory and double refractory materials using bio-active agents, particularly fungal agents.
  • a method for treating refractory and double refractory gold-containing materials containing preg robbing carbon-containing components using a fungal agent to deactivate the preg robbing components.
  • the fungal agent can be any suitable fungus, including a white rot fungus, with any Coriolaceae cellular organism being preferred and any Trametes cellular organism, such as Trametes versicolor (formerly Coriolus versicolor ), being even more preferred.
  • any refractory sulfide sulfur may be oxidized by a suitable technique, including roasting, atmospheric oxidation, pressure oxidation, and bio-oxidation. This embodiment can provide an economical and practical method to treat not only refractory but also double refractory ores.
  • a method for treating refractory and double refractory gold-containing materials containing sulfidic sulfur using a fungal agent to decompose sulfides.
  • the fungal agent can be any suitable fungus, including a white rot fungus, with any Coriolaceae cellular organism being preferred and any Trametes cellular organism, such as Trametes versicolor (formerly Coriolus versicolor ), being even more preferred.
  • any preg robbing carbon-containing components may be deactivated by a suitable technique.
  • One preferred technique is bio-deactivation using fungal and/or bacterial microbes.
  • a method for treating refractory and double refractory gold-containing sulfidic materials.
  • a culture media with or without a microbial agent, is applied at elevated temperature to the material to oxidize sulfidic sulfur.
  • the culture media may be for a microbe that deactivates preg robbing carbon-containing material.
  • the gold-containing material may be inoculated with the microbe during or after sulfidic sulfur oxidation.
  • the second and third embodiments can oxidize sulfidic sulfur at an alkaline pH, thereby reducing base consumption compared to bacterial oxidation of sulfidic sulfur.
  • a” or “an” entity refers to one or more of that entity.
  • the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more” and “at least one” can be used interchangeably herein. It is also to be noted that the terms “comprising”, “including”, and “having” can be used interchangeably.
  • acid consumer refers to any material that reacts with sulfuric acid to form a new compound.
  • acid consumers include carbonates, such as limestone, soda ash, trona, ankerite, dolomite, and calcite; alkaline earth metal oxides such as lime; other metal oxides such as zinc oxide and magnesium oxide; alkali metal hydroxides such as sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide; other metal hydroxides such as ferric hydroxide (e.g., limonite and goethite) and aluminum hydroxides such as laterite, gibbsite, and diaspore; ammonia; and various clays.
  • carbonates such as limestone, soda ash, trona, ankerite, dolomite, and calcite
  • alkaline earth metal oxides such as lime
  • other metal oxides such as zinc oxide and magnesium oxide
  • alkali metal hydroxides such as sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide
  • other metal hydroxides such as ferric hydroxide (e.g., limonite and
  • each of the expressions “at least one of A, B and C”, “at least one of A, B, or C”, “one or more of A, B, and C”, “one or more of A, B, or C” and “A, B, and/or C” means A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, or A, B and C together.
  • carbonaceous material refers to organic carbon-containing material.
  • organic carbonaceous materials include humic acid, hydrocarbons, and naturally occurring activated carbon.
  • deactivation refers to decomposition or alteration, such as by oxidation and/or reduction, of a selected chemical compound and/or passivation of a selected material.
  • malt refers to grains that have been partially germinated by artificial means. Malt normally contains dextrin, maltose, and amylase.
  • passivate means to form a coating on a surface and reduce a selected chemical activity or function.
  • yeast refers to unicellular organisms known as saccharomycetaceae.
  • FIG. 1A is a flowsheet of a process according to an embodiment
  • FIG. 1B is a flowsheet continuation of the process of the embodiment.
  • Refractory carbonaceous material is contacted with a heterotrophic bio-active agent, particularly a fungal agent, to deactivate preg robbing carbonaceous components.
  • a preferred heterotrophic agent is an Aphyllophorales cellular organism, more preferably a Coriolaceae cellular organism, even more preferably white rot fungi and mutants thereof, with a Trametes cellular organism (e.g., Trametes trogii, Trametes hirsuta , and Trametes versicolor (formerly Coriolus sp.)), a Phanerochaete cellular organism (e.g., Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Phanerochaete sordida ), a Bjerkandera cellular organism, a Phlebia cellular organism (e.g., Phlebia brevispora ), a Cyathus cellular organism (e.g., Cyathus cellular organism (e.g.
  • the bio-active agent can not only deactivate carbonaceous components but also oxidize sulfide minerals. These fungi are commonly active at temperatures in the range of about 15 to about 45° C. and at a pH of at least about pH 3, even more commonly in the range of about pH 5 to about pH 12, and even more commonly in the range of about pH 8 to about pH 10.
  • the fungi are believed to secrete a number of enzymes, particularly peroxidases and laccases with unique properties.
  • the enzymes can catalyze a wide variety of oxidations and both indirect oxidations and reductions.
  • the fungi synthesize and secrete hydrogen peroxide to activate the peroxidases and laccases, veratryl alcohol to serve as a free radical intermediate for indirect oxidations, and/or electron donors, such as oxalate, which, with veratryl alcohol, catalyze reductions. Reductions are often required for subsequent oxidation of chemicals by the peroxidases and laccases. It is believed that some carbonaceous materials are converted into carbon dioxide by some fungi while other fingi passivate the pre-robbing capacity of carbonaceous materials.
  • a process according to a first embodiment will be discussed with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B .
  • the process oxidizes sulfides and bio-deactivates carbonaceous components in different stages and by different means.
  • a feed material 100 contains gold and can be in any suitable form, such as ore, concentrate, tailings, calcine, and residue of an extractive metallurgical process.
  • the gold content of the feed material 100 depends on the form of the material and typically ranges from 0.1 to about 5.0 oz/tonne and even more typically from about 0.2 to about 2 oz/tonne.
  • the material 100 includes a preg robbing carbonaceous component, such as humic acid, hydrocarbons, and surface active carbon, in an amount ranging from about 0.3 to about 10 wt. %.
  • the material 100 can also include other components, including one or more of silver in an amount typically ranging from about 1 to about 10 oz/tonne and even more typically ranging from about 1 to about 5 oz/tonne, sulfidic sulfur in an amount typically ranging from about 0.1 to about 15 wt. %, and acid consumers in an amount typically ranging from about 0.1 to about 30 wt. %.
  • the sulfide minerals are commonly in the form of pyrite, marcasite, arsenopyrite, and chalcophyrite while the acid consumers are commonly present as carbonates, ankerite, calcite, siderite, and dolomite.
  • the particle size of the feed material 100 depends on subsequent processing steps and mineralogy. For example, when the feed material 100 particles will be bio-treated in a vat or other container the P 80 size of the material will be minus 75 ⁇ m. Commonly, the feed material 100 will have a median, average, and/or P 80 size in the range of from about 10 ⁇ m to about 25 mm.
  • Optional steps 104 , 108 and 112 are performed, when the feed material 100 is sulfide refractory, to oxidize sulfidic sulfur sufficiently to liberate most of the gold from the sulfide matrix.
  • Sulfide oxidation may be performed by any technique, including alkaline or acid atmospheric or pressure oxidation, roasting, and bio-oxidation.
  • oxidation is performed by bio-oxidation in a tank.
  • the material 100 is inoculated with a chemolithotrophic autotrophic bacterial consortium, typically including Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans and Leptospirillum ferrooxidans .
  • the bacteria used for oxidative leaching comprise at least one bacteria selected from the group consisting of Thiobacillus thiooxidans, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans , a Leptosoirillum species, Thermosulfidooxidans, Sulfolobus brierleyi, Sulfolobus acidocaldarius, Sulfolobus BC and Sulfolobus solfataricus.
  • Thiobacillus ferrooxidans bacteria are suitable for sulfide oxidation within the temperature range of about 15 to about 40° C.
  • the facultative-thermophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria oxidize sulfides at a temperature range of about 35 to about 55° C.
  • the Sulfolobus and Acidianus species are active from about 50 to about 90° C.
  • Reactions (1) and (3) are believed to be mainly chemical reactions and occur with little or no bacterial involvement.
  • Reactions (2) and (4) are believed to rely entirely on bacterial catalysis and will not proceed to any appreciable degree in the absence of active bacteria under ambient conditions.
  • the final oxidation products of sulfide minerals should be ferric sulfate and sulfuric acid.
  • Sulfide bio-oxidation takes place at a pH of less than about pH 2.5, with an operable range being from about pH 1.3 to about pH 2.0. To attain or maintain this pH, the material 100 may need to be contacted, before bio-oxidation, with an acid to destroy acid consumers.
  • nutrients such as soluble Fe 3+ ; ammonium sulfate, and phosphate, are contacted with the material 100 , during and after inoculation.
  • Bio-oxidation is further discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,729,788, 5,089,412, 5,127,942, and 6,696,283.
  • Sulfide bio-oxidation may be carried out prior to or subsequent to the carbon deactivation by the bio-active (fungal) agent disclosed herein. In some cases, this reversal of steps is desirable to prevent liberated gold from being lost to preg robbing carbon before the preg robbing carbon is deactivated.
  • the oxidized residue 116 when in the form of a slurry, is subjected to solid/liquid separation in step 108 , such as using a counter current decantation circuit, to produce a separated residue 120 .
  • the oxidized and separated residue 116 and 120 respectively, contain most of the gold.
  • the liquid component may be recycled to step 104 .
  • step 112 the residue is washed in a wash circuit to reduce acid levels, remove bacteria, and form a washed residue 124 .
  • step 128 the residue 124 , which is typically in the form of a slurry, is neutralized, as needed, using base 136 to produce the desired pH range (discussed above), conditioned to produce a desired pulp density, and inoculated.
  • the base 136 can be any acid consumer, such as lime and limestone, with lime being preferred.
  • the pulp density is adjusted with solution from step 132 to a preferred range of about 10 to about 50% and even more preferably of about 20 to about 30%.
  • the bio-active (fungal) agent 140 commonly in the form of an inoculant or culture media, are contacted with the neutralized and conditioned slurry during step 128 and/or during bio-treatment step 152 .
  • the inoculant preferably contains from about 10 5 to about 10 8 colony-forming units per milliliter, preferably as a suspension in a nutrient solution.
  • the colony forming units are grown for a suitable period on a culture medium before inoculation.
  • the bio-active agent 140 does not include heterotrophic carbon deactivating bacteria, such as Pseudomonas maltophilia, Pseudomonas oryzihabitans, Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Pseudomonas stutzeri, Streptomyces setonii, Arthrobacter species, Achromobacter species, and Rhodococcus species.
  • heterotrophic carbon deactivating bacteria such as Pseudomonas maltophilia, Pseudomonas oryzihabitans, Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Pseudomonas stutzeri, Streptomyces setonii, Arthrobacter species, Achromobacter species, and Rhodococcus species.
  • the inoculant or culture media includes nutrients 144 to promote growth and reproduction of the bio-active agent.
  • Nutrients generally include a carbon source and one or more inducers to encourage or enhance production by the bio-active agent of one or more selected enzymes that effect the desired deactivation of the preg robbing carbonaceous materials.
  • the nutrients 144 are a glucose-malt-yeast extract medium preferably including, in each liter of nutrient solution, from about 5 to about 50 g/L glucose, from about 1 to about 25 g/L malt extract, from about 0.5 to about 25 g/L yeast extract, and from about 0.1 to about 10 g/L of an alkaline earth metal sulfate, particularly hydrated magnesium sulfate, with the remainder of the solution being (preferably distilled) water.
  • the nutrient-containing solution is an aqueous mixture including from about 10 to about 20 parts Kirk's medium, from about 1 to about 1.5 parts polysaccharide (e.g., a phycocolloiod, particularly agar (which is a mixture of agarose and agaropectin)) and from about 2.5 to about 3 parts malt extract or maltine, with the remainder being (preferably distilled) water.
  • polysaccharide e.g., a phycocolloiod, particularly agar (which is a mixture of agarose and agaropectin)
  • malt extract or maltine e.g., a phycocolloiod, particularly agar (which is a mixture of agarose and agaropectin)
  • One liter of Kirk's medium preferably includes about 10 grams glucose or dextrose, from about 0.44 to about 0.80 grams ammonium tartrate, about 0.05 gram of a transition metal sulfate, particularly hydrated manganese sulfate, about 0.1 gram of an alkaline earth metal chloride, particularly hydrated calcium chloride, about 100 ⁇ ml thiamine, about 100 ⁇ ml trace minerals, and about 3 gram 2.2 dimethylsucicinate supplement.
  • the inoculating solution or culture media excludes, and bio-treatment step 152 is performed in the complete or substantial absence of, a chelating agent, particularly ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid.
  • the conditioned material 148 is bio-treated in step 152 to deactivate most and even more preferably from about 75 to about 95% of the preg robbing carbonaceous material.
  • nutrients 144 and, as needed, additional bio-active agent 140 are contacted with the conditioned material 148 .
  • the bio-active agent using the particles of conditioned material 148 as a substrate, metabolizes, multiplies, and produces biomass.
  • the fungus is believed to attach to the carbonaceous components of the conditioned material 148 .
  • Fungal deactivation of carbonaceous components to a non-preg robbing form is believed to result from coating the carbonaceous components with the fungal-produced biomass.
  • the biomass may block or “blind” the carbonaceous material from reacting with dissolved gold.
  • bio-active agent To maintain desired growth and reproductive rates of the bio-active agent, further inoculations of the bio-active agent and nutrient solution are done during bio-treatment. This can be done either on a continuous or discontinuous basis.
  • the pulp density is preferably maintained in the range set forth above.
  • neutralization/conditioning and bio-treatment will take place in a series of vessels, such as tanks, columns, or vats.
  • the vessels are preferably continuous or semi-continuous stirred tank vessels.
  • the series includes a neutralization/conditioning vessel followed by one or more reactor vessels (in which bio-treatment occurs).
  • Molecular oxygen is generally provided to support fungal growth. Molecular oxygen is commonly provided by sparging air through the neutralization/conditioning and/or bio-treatment vessels.
  • the residence time is the time required to substantially reduce, or deactivate, the preg robbing characteristic of the ore and commonly depends on the characteristics of the conditioned material 148 and processing conditions, such as feed rate, temperature, particle size, and pulp density.
  • the residence time of the conditioned material 148 in the reactor tank(s) typically ranges from about one to about 3 weeks.
  • the bio-treated material 156 includes most, if not all, of the gold in the feed material 100 .
  • the bio-treated material 156 which is in the form of a slurry, is subjected to solid/liquid separation, such as in a counter current decantation circuit, to separate a portion of the liquid phase from the solid phase (or bio-treated material 156 ).
  • the separated bio-treated material 156 is neutralized using a suitable base 136 .
  • the base 136 is preferably lime.
  • the neutralized bio-treated material 164 in step 168 , is leached using a lixiviant to form a pregnant leach solution 172 containing most of the gold in the material 164 and a barren material 176 .
  • the lixiviant can be any suitable gold-dissolving leaching agent, such as cyanide, thiosulfate, or thiourea, with cyanide being preferred.
  • dissolved gold in the pregnant leach solution 172 is recovered by suitable techniques to form a gold product 184 .
  • Gold recovery and leaching can be performed sequentially or simultaneously.
  • dissolved gold is concentrated by adsorption onto activated carbon either in adsorption columns, in carbon added to the leaching process (known as Carbon-In-Leach (“CIL”) or Carbon-In-Pulp (“CIP”) techniques), or in resin added to the leaching process (known as Resin-In-Leach (“RIL”) technique).
  • Adsorbed gold is eluted from the sorbent by stripping with ammonia, nitric acid, caustic, steam and/or other stripping solutions. Gold is then isolated and converted to a solid from the eluate by electrowinning (electroplating of gold onto cathodes), precipitation and filtration, or cementation.
  • step 188 the barren material 176 is subjected to solid/liquid separation to form tailings 192 , which may be discharged into a tailings pond or otherwise disposed of.
  • the feed material 100 is processed by heap leaching techniques.
  • the feed material 100 is comminuted to a coarse size and/or formed into aggomerates.
  • the particles of feed material 100 typically have a P 90 size of less than about 2 inches and even more typically less than about 0.5 inches.
  • the heap is inoculated with, and sprayed with nutrients for, the chemolithotrophic bacteria.
  • sulfide oxidation is at a selected degree of completion, the heap is dismantled and the particles/agglomerates neutralized with soda ash or limestone. The neutralized particles/agglomerates are reformed into a heap and bio-treatment performed to deactivate the preg robbing carbon components.
  • the heap When bio-treatment is at a selected degree of completion, the heap, if necessary, is dismantled and the particles/agglomerates neutralized with lime. The heap is reformed again. The gold is recovered by contacting the heap with an alkaline lixiviant, such as cyanide, thiosulfate, and thiourea.
  • an alkaline lixiviant such as cyanide, thiosulfate, and thiourea.
  • sulfide oxidation is effected at elevated temperature using a nutrient-containing solution or culture media in the substantial absence of a fungal or bacterial agent.
  • the microbe-barren nutrient solution is contacted with the feed material 100 in a stirred tank for a time sufficient to oxidize a substantial portion of the sulfides.
  • the contacting temperature is typically about 30° C. or higher and even more typically ranges from about 40 to about 45° C. and the pH is about pH 9 or more and even more typically ranges from about pH 9.5 to about pH 10.5.
  • the nutrient solution can have the composition set forth above in connection with fungal agents.
  • the byproducts of sulfide oxidation may cause the pH of the culture media to decrease during the course of sulfide oxidation. Consequently, base is added, as needed, to maintain the pH of the culture media at the desired level.
  • preg robbing carbon-containing component deactivation by fungal or bacterial microbes is effected as set forth above.
  • the sulfide destruction capability of the bio-active agent 140 and the oxidative ability of the nutrient solution are jointly used to effect bio-oxidation (step 104 ). It is well established that white rot fungus decomposes dibenzyl sulfide to dibenzyl sulfoxide and/or dibenzyl sulfone. Van Hamme, Dibenzyl Sulfide Metabolism by White Rot Fungi , Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2003, pages 1320 to 1324 (2003). Accordingly, white rot fungus and the nutrient solution are applied, together or separately, to the feed material 100 , either by heap or tank leaching techniques, to decompose commonly at least about 25 wt.
  • step 104 is conducted at the elevated temperature and pH ranges set forth in the prior paragraph. Because white rot fungus also deactivates preg robbing carbon, both sulfide oxidation and preg robbing carbon deactivation (step 152 ) can be effected in a single stage. In this embodiment, sulfide oxidizing and/or carbon consuming bacteria may or may not be applied to the feed material 100 along with the fungal agent.
  • sulfide destruction is effected using white rot fungus as the bioactive agent 140 and the culture media at the temperature and pH ranges set forth above, and a different microbial agent is used to effect deactivation of the preg robbing carbon.
  • the preg robbing carbon deactivation microbe is preferably bacterial but may be fungal.
  • Exemplary bacteria include Pseudomonas maltophilia, Pseudomonas oryzihabitans, Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Pseudomonas stutzeri, Steptomyces setonii, Arthrobacter species, Achromobacter species, and Rhodococcus species. Because the fungal agent, during sulfide oxidation, can mobilize the gold for collection on the preg robbing carbon, it is preferred that preg robbing carbon deactivation (step 152 ) be performed before sulfide oxidation (step 104 ). In this embodiment, sulfide oxidizing bacteria may or may not be applied to the feed material 100 along with the fungal agent.
  • the use of an overlapping pH range to perform both sulfide oxidation and preg robbing carbon deactivation can provide significant reductions in operating and capital costs and increases in throughput compared to the two-step leaching processes set forth above.
  • Sample A is a flotation concentrate.
  • Samples B and C are run-of-mine ore samples.
  • Example 2 The same feed samples employed in Example 1 were pre-treated using microbial bio-oxidation for the treatment of the refractory sulfidic component of the ore.
  • the pretreatment consisted of grinding the ores to 90% minus 200 mesh (74 ⁇ m) and forming a slurry of about 20% solids in a 2 liter Erlenmeyer flask.
  • the pH's of the slurries were adjusted to about pH 1.5 with sulfuric acid.
  • the chemolithotrophic bacteria used for sulfide oxidation was a mixture of equal parts Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans and Leptospirillum ferrooxidans .
  • chemolithotrophes were grown together to form a mixed culture and maintained in a medium containing about 0.5 g/l of (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 , K 2 HPO 4 , MgSO 4 .7H 2 O, 0.1 g/l KCl and 0.01 g/l CaNO 3 , 15.0 g/l FeSO 4 .7H 2 O, 1.0 g/l sulfur and 0.25 ml/l of Wolfe's solution.
  • a 10% v/v microbial culture was added into the flask containing the pH adjusted slurry, and was agitated using an orbital shaker at 180 rpm for 14 days.
  • the slurry was filtered, washed and pulped to about 33% solids for bottle roll cyanidation as outlined in Example 1.
  • the pregnant cyanide solution and leach residue were both assayed for gold.
  • Table 3 shows that gold extraction from the ore samples pre-treated with chemolithotrophic bacteria ranged from about 71% to 81%. This improvement is consistent with the liberation of gold after oxidation of the sulfide refractory components of the ore.
  • the white rot fungus Trametes versicolor , was cultured in a medium containing Kirk's medium, agar and malt extract.
  • the 1,000 ml Kirk's solution contained about 10.1 grams glucose, 0.44 ⁇ 0.80 grams ammonium tartrate, 0.05 gram MnSO4.7H2O, 0.01 gram CaCl2.2H2O, 10 ⁇ ml thiamine, 100 ⁇ ml trace minerals and 2.92 gram 2.2 dimethylsucicinate supplement.
  • Pretreatment of the samples included grinding the ore to 90% minus 200 mesh (74 ⁇ m) and forming a slurry of 20% solids in a 2 liter Erlenmeyer flask.
  • a 10% v/v microbial culture of Trametes versicolor was added into the flask containing the pH 9.5 slurry, which was agitated using an orbital shaker set at 180 rpm for 14 days at ambient temperature.
  • the slurry was filtered, washed and pulped to 33% solids for bottle roll cyanidation as outlined in Example 1.
  • the pregnant cyanide solution and leach residue were both assayed for gold.
  • the pH of the slurry to be leached with chemolithotrophic bacteria was about pH 1.5 compared to the pH used for Trametes versicolor , which was about pH 9.5.
  • Table 4 shows the gold extraction from the ore samples pre-treated with the white rot fungus was between about 54.1 and 64.5%, which is lower than that treated with the chemolithotrophic bacteria in Example 2, but significantly higher than the gold recovery by cyanidation alone as shown in Example 1.
  • Table 4 shows that the gold extraction from the samples pre-treated with white rot fungus was in the range of about 54 to 65%.
  • Example 2 A two stage pretreatment was then conducted on the three ore samples using the procedure outlined in Example 3 for the mitigation of preg robbing, followed by a washing step and treatment using the process for sulfide oxidation shown in Example 2.
  • the two-stage pre-treatment used Trametes versicolor preg robbing deactivation followed by chemolithotrophic bacteria sulfide oxidation.
  • the process produced the highest gold yield of any test for samples A and C and the third highest for sample B.
  • the highest gold yields for sample B were from two-stage sulfide oxidation and bio-treatment processes.
  • the present invention in various embodiments, configurations, or aspects, includes components, methods, processes, systems and/or apparatus substantially as depicted and described herein, including various embodiments, configurations, aspects, subcombinations, and subsets thereof. Those of skill in the art will understand how to make and use the present invention after understanding the present disclosure.
  • the present invention in various embodiments, configurations, and aspects, includes providing devices and processes in the absence of items not depicted and/or described herein or in various embodiments, configurations, or aspects hereof, including in the absence of such items as may have been used in previous devices or processes, e.g., for improving performance, achieving ease and ⁇ or reducing cost of implementation.

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CN114752592A (zh) * 2022-05-12 2022-07-15 浙江师范大学 一种用于菌糠饲料化的菌剂及制备方法
CN115341095A (zh) * 2022-07-05 2022-11-15 中南大学 一种基于微生物菌剂阻燃硫化矿石的方法及使用的菌剂
WO2023013665A1 (ja) * 2021-08-05 2023-02-09 国立大学法人九州大学 金鉱石の前処理方法および金回収方法

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Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN113308605A (zh) * 2021-05-19 2021-08-27 上海第二工业大学 一种利用微电场强化黄孢原毛平革菌浸出废线路板中铜和金的方法
WO2023013665A1 (ja) * 2021-08-05 2023-02-09 国立大学法人九州大学 金鉱石の前処理方法および金回収方法
CN114752592A (zh) * 2022-05-12 2022-07-15 浙江师范大学 一种用于菌糠饲料化的菌剂及制备方法
CN115341095A (zh) * 2022-07-05 2022-11-15 中南大学 一种基于微生物菌剂阻燃硫化矿石的方法及使用的菌剂

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