Heap leaching gold extraction technology

Heap leaching gold extraction technology is an economical and effective gold extraction technology, especially suitable for the treatment of low-grade oxidized gold ore. This technology is to pile the ore on a special impermeable pad and then spray it with a solution containing cyanide to dissolve the gold from the ore, and finally recover the gold through steps such as adsorption, desorption and electrolysis. The following are several key steps and technical features of the heap leaching gold extraction process:

1. Heap leaching preparation 

Before heap leaching, the ore needs to be crushed and screened to ensure that the ore particle size is suitable for heap leaching. This step helps to increase the leaching rate of gold because the smaller ore particle size can increase the contact area between the ore and the leaching solution.

2. Heap leaching operation 

The ore is piled on an impermeable pad to form a heap leaching pile. Through the spray system, the solution containing cyanide is evenly sprayed on the ore pile. Gold reacts with cyanide in the ore to form a soluble gold-cyanide complex, which is dissolved from the ore.

3. Adsorption and recovery of gold 

After the gold-containing cyanide solution is collected through the collection system, it flows through the adsorption column filled with activated carbon, and the gold is adsorbed on the activated carbon. Subsequently, the gold in the gold-loaded carbon is desorbed and recovered through the desorption electrolysis process.

4. Environmental protection and safety measures

The heap leaching gold extraction process requires strict environmental protection and safety measures to prevent the cyanide solution from polluting the environment. This includes the use of impermeable pads to prevent solution leakage and proper treatment of tailings.

5. Tailings treatment 

The tailings after heap leaching contain residual gold and other valuable elements, which can be recovered by further physical or chemical methods. For example, the tailings crushing-grinding-full mud cyanidation-carbon slurry gold extraction process is used to reduce production costs, reduce investment, and increase gold recovery.

6. Technical economy

 The heap leaching gold extraction process is particularly suitable for processing large-scale low-grade gold resources due to its low capital investment and operating costs. In addition, this technology can reduce the generation of mine waste and meet the environmental protection requirements of modern mining.

7. Technological development

 With the advancement of technology, the heap leaching gold extraction process is also constantly developing and optimizing. For example, the high temperature and high pressure cyanide-free desorption technology is used to improve the recovery efficiency and safety of gold.

In summary, the heap leaching gold extraction process technology is an effective gold extraction method suitable for low-grade oxidized gold ore. It achieves gold extraction through simple operation procedures and low costs, and is of great significance to environmental protection and comprehensive utilization of resources.