Hydrometallurgy: Leaching in Heap, Vat, CIL, CIP, Merrill–Crowe, SX Solvent Extraction

Hydrometallurgy: Leaching in Heap, Vat, CIL, CIP, Merrill–Crowe, SX Solvent Extraction

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leaching and adsorption of gold from the pulp (1 reply)

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Edson aman
4 years ago
Edson aman 4 years ago

In most cases leaching process is done using sodium cyanide due to its high activity while in adsorption the activated carbons work well when there are many  calcium ions in the pulp therefore in other words it seems like not necessary using sodium cyanide for leaching instead calcium cyanide could be used and favours adsorption of gold as well as leaching, so why this is not done in many cip or cil plants?

 

Mike
4 years ago
Mike 4 years ago
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Cyanide is the general descriptive term applied usually to sodium cyanide (NaCN). However, the early work in cyanidation was based on the use of potassium cyanide and strengths of solution as well as basic formulae are still in terms of that chemical.  It is to be noted that the cyanogen radical (CN) actually has the dissolving power, the alkaline base of potassium, calcium or sodium merely giving a chemical stability to the compound.

 The main difference between the alkaline cyanides, aside from their cost, is their relative dissolving power. This depends entirely on the percentage of cyanogen radical present.  So the main reason being that sodium cyanide is cheaper to make.


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