The effect of iron contaminants on thiosulphate leaching of gold

Metallic iron and ferric ions were subjected to wet grinding with a sulphide ore in a ceramic ball mill to simulate the fine grinding process using mild steel, in an attempt to investigate the effect of iron species on the ammoniacal thiosulphate leaching of gold. Metallic iron and ferric ions decreased gold leaching in both kinetics and overall extraction when they were added in the wet grinding of a sulphide ore. This detrimental effect became more pronounced with the addition of metallic iron and ferric ions at higher concentrations. Metallic iron retarded the gold leaching more than ferric ions at the same dosage. The decomposition of thiosulphate in the leaching of the sulphide ore increased with the addition of metallic iron and ferric ions in the wet grinding. Thermodynamic analysis indicated that the predominant species for iron was ferric hydroxide under the leaching conditions. Wet grinding at a higher pH of 9 and use of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) were ineffective in improving the gold leaching with the addition of metallic ions and ferric ions in the wet grinding. Iron oxide and hydroxide slime coatings at the surfaces of pyrite and pyrrhotite were reduced using carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) to render the sulphide and slime particle surfaces highly negatively charged. Precipitation of iron oxide species at the surfaces of pyrite and pyrrhotite was observed in the morphological study of the leach residues with the addition of metallic iron in the wet grinding. The addition of CMC effectively reduced iron oxide slime coating at the sulphide surfaces and the aggregation of fine particles.