A Comparative Study of Gold Leaching Kinetics Using Alternative Reagents from Concentrates of Low-Grade Ores

Malyshev V. Karimova L. Sagatbek S. Kharchenko Y. Magaz A.
March 2025 Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)

Minerals
2025 #15 Issue 3

This study compares gold leaching using sodium cyanide (NaCN) with alternative YX500 and Jinchan reagents. The research object was a gold–sulfide polymetallic ore (Republic of Kazakhstan) with a gold content of 0.38 g/t. The closed flotation beneficiation experiment resulted in a concentrate with an 81.40% recovery and a 5.3 g/t gold grade. The resulting concentrate was subjected to oxidizing roasting to completely oxidize the sulfides and mineral grains of arsenopyrite, pyrite, and carbon. A comparative evaluation of leaching showed that the gold recovery from the roasted concentrate using alternative YX500 and Jinchan reagent solutions was comparable to that using NaCN, with the recoveries at approximately the same level of 86.5%. The differential analysis of the obtained multiplicative multifactor Protodyakonov–Malyshev model made it possible to determine the apparent activation energy of the process using the Arrhenius equation, which eliminates the widely used graphical model. In the proposed method of kinetic experiment planning, the time differentiation of the Kolmogorov–Erofeev equation is mandatory, determining it as a partial dependence on the duration and multiplicative equation for all transformations to determine the activation energy of the process at any given conversion value and other operative factors. The variation range of the apparent value of the activation energy of the gold leaching process, from 0.718 to 78.0 kJ/mol, indicates that the limiting stage of this process is the solid-phase diffusion of CN ions from the outside to the center of the grain material.

activation energy , gold , multiplicative model , oxidizing roasting , reagents

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Entropy-Information Analysis” Laboratory, Chemical-Metallurgical Institute Named After Zh. Abishev, Karaganda, 100009, Kazakhstan
Metallurgy Laboratory, LLP “Innovation”, Karaganda, 100024, Kazakhstan
LLP “KazHydroMed”, Karaganda, 100000, Kazakhstan
Department of Metallurgy and Materials Science, Non-Profit Joint Stock Company “Karaganda Industrial University”, Temirtau, 101400, Kazakhstan

Entropy-Information Analysis” Laboratory
Metallurgy Laboratory
LLP “KazHydroMed”
Department of Metallurgy and Materials Science

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