# Gold in Arsenopyrite



## usaman65

Hi-

I have some gold ore (that I can get a LOT more of) that is roomered to contain 16+oz of gold per ton. Im getting an assay, but until then I would like to know a good way recoverying the gold out of the ore if it proves to be worth while based on the assay. It is arsenopyrite, It contains arsenic, Iron, Gold, and cobalt to my understanding. The place was accualy a cobalt mine in the 1700's for the textile industry, the gold was only known since the 1960's. Since it is a sulfide ore, should I bake it to expose the gold and to break up the pyrite and arsenic? or should I grind it and hit the chems?

I know there was a post about recovering gold out of pyrite o this forum, but I think arsenopyrite is a totaly different story.

kev


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## Lou

Heat will destroy the both the sulfides and the arsenides. If it is arsenopyrite then you are dealing with a refractory ore. 16 oz/ton sounds enticing, but it will not be easy to get it out, especially considering a ton of pure material is over 30% arsenic by mass. You could make some money off the arsenic as well as the gold! 

So you have FeAsS with gold entrained in the lattice. You have a tough extraction. Heat will burn away the sulfur, but it will also oxidise away the arsenic to volatile arsenic compounds. Hot, medium conc. nitric acid will accomplish the same effect and remove both the sulfide and any arsenic present by oxidation. I don't recommend it though, firstly because it loves accumulating in your system, and it's damn toxic. If that's not enough it's also a Group I Human carcinogen according to the IARC. I'd rather work with cyanide every day, because that just outright kills you if you mess up and it isn't slow and painful (plus, I like my hair, As poisoning and you go bald! insult to injury!)

In my opinion, your best bet is to leave it to the professionals. And if you are a professional and have all the equipment to adequately roast it, by all means, go for it! Hell, call me up! I can do with some more consulting work  I won't tell you any details unless I'm on the clock. 

:wink:


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## Irons

Arsenopyrite can kill you in short order if not processed properly. It sent me to the hospital last fall and I still have problems from it. It was just a small sample of only a few ounces. I doubt if there is much of a market for Arsenic anymore since pressure treated wood with Arsenic is more or less a thing of the past. The disposal fees will cost a lot to properly dispose of it. There are small mountains of it in the Nevada desert that nobody wants.

Dangerous stuff.


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## JustinNH

This could be a stupid question, but a friend fo mine collects minerals etc and said he found some arsenopyrite (and other pyrites)... is the stuff dangerous at all as is? (i.e. not beign processed, but just as a specimin). 
Just kinda curious


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## Shecker

There is a natural occurring arsenide of gold. It looks like arsenopyrite.
Try a little sodium hydroxide on it. The samples of gold arsenide that I have tested have reacted with NaOH causing the gold to come out of the crystals.
But watch it -- the fumes can be a little weird so do this outside and get down wind from it.

Randy in Gunnison


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## Anonymous

Shecker said:


> But watch it -- the fumes can be a little weird so do this outside and get down wind from it.
> 
> Randy in Gunnison



I think you mean upwind of it, or have it downwind of you.


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## markqf1

Usaman,
From what I've read, It' pretty hard to break.
The books say it weathers to scorodite.

Also,... looks like your in a good area.

Just be careful of any Uraninite that might be in the mix if it was formed in
high temp.
Irons, 
They still make syphillus drugs with arsenic ...right?

Mark


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## geubrina

Have you successful in your gold ore?

Share your story....

Or, it is just merely pyrites as usual???


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## Richard36

If you have, or can get a furnace, instead of leaching it, you could smelt it to lead by mixing your ore with lead and smelting it until all is molten together, then pour this mix to a lightly greased mold. the slag may fracture violently as it cools , so wear eye protection, and other appropriate safety gear, and don't stand over the top of it watching it cool. When cool, turn the mold over and the slag and lead should fall right out. Tap the point at which the slag and lead come together with a hammer, and the slag should pop free, not always though, sometimes you have to beat on it. This lead is the collector for the pm's, and can be reused for the next batch as well. At some point the lead will start to become hard. At this point the lead can be placed in a scorification dish in a furnace to reduce the bulk of the lead to litharge, thus removing the arsenic and a alot of other impurities as well. The lead at this point can either be granulated, and dissolved in aqua regia, then follow the procedures listed on this forum for recovering pm's from this solution, or you can use industrial cupellation. This process draws off the lead into the cupel leaving the pm's as a dore bead that can then be further refined with the methods found on this forum. This process works with black sands, and would work with electronic scrap as well. Sincerely; Rick. :!: :idea:


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## Richard36

I am surprised that no further posts have been made on this thread. where's the interest people?


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## semi-lucid

Richard36 said:


> I am surprised that no further posts have been made on this thread. where's the interest people?



Well lets see.

Lou's not going to tell us anymore details unless he's on the clock. :wink: 

Irons has had just about enough of Arsenopyrite. Get well soon.

Shecker wants to: Try a little sodium hydroxide on it.

James wants to stand upwind of Shecker's experiment, regardless of where Shecker stands. :wink: 

geubrina wants to know whats happening.

And usaman65 never responded to any of the responses that he received.

Me? I'm just reading. Sounds like some dirty, toxic, problematic stuff to me. I'm afraid Lou might be too optimistic about the market for arsenic. As Irons said, their not using it anymore to treat wood. In the process that you described, where does the arsenic end up?

Regards to all.
John


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## Irons

semi-lucid said:


> Richard36 said:
> 
> 
> 
> I am surprised that no further posts have been made on this thread. where's the interest people?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Well lets see.
> 
> Lou's not going to tell us anymore details unless he's on the clock. :wink:
> 
> Irons has had just about enough of Arsenopyrite. Get well soon.
> 
> Shecker wants to: Try a little sodium hydroxide on it.
> 
> James wants to stand upwind of Shecker's experiment, regardless of where Shecker stands. :wink:
> 
> geubrina wants to know whats happening.
> 
> And usaman65 never responded to any of the responses that he received.
> 
> Me? I'm just reading. Sounds like some dirty, toxic, problematic stuff to me. I'm afraid Lou might be too optimistic about the market for arsenic. As Irons said, their not using it anymore to treat wood. In the process that you described, where does the arsenic end up?
> 
> Regards to all.
> John
Click to expand...


The Arsenic is an expensive disposal problem and the environmental police don't look kindly on anyone who cuts corners.

Any toxic residues have to be disposed of properly and properly means an approved method and disposal facility. It's expensive.


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## Juan Manuel Arcos Frank

Complex ores need better treatment than cyanide process..i.e. thiosulphate process,Halogen process...they are alternatives.The gold contents seems to high for me.

In 2008 8 new mines opened in Mexico...the best one has 3.5 gr of gold/Tn of ore....the others have 0.8-1 gr Au/Tn ore.

Why do not you take a look to the potassium iodide process for gold recovery?..It is here in the Forum.

Regards

Manuel


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## AuMINIMayhem

heating up Arsenopyrite?.. :shock: the thought of *anyone* without a mining background/experience and not under *strict* EPA regulations processing something this dangerous.. that scares the hell out of me.

"*When arsenopyrite is heated, it becomes magnetic and gives off toxic fumes.* With 46% arsenic content, arsenopyrite, along with orpiment, is a principal ore of arsenic. When deposits of arsenopyrite become exposed to the atmosphere, usually due to mining, the mineral will slowly oxidize, converting the arsenic into oxides that are more soluble in water, leading to acid mine drainage."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenopyrite

http://www.cepis.ops-oms.org/bvsacd/arsenico/Arsenic2004/theme2/paper2.2.pdf

http://www.sciencelab.com/xMSDS-Arsenic-9922970


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## g_axelsson

I don't think the levels are exceptionally high, it all depends on the size of the mineralization and how much surrounding rock must be removed to get the ore.

There is an old mine 150 km from where I live. The mineralization was found a hundred years ago and consists of quarts veins with massive arsenopyrite. The guy that found it thought that it might contain cobalt so he sent some samples to a smelter. When he got the results back he hardly believed it. Over 1500 g Au per ton for the best arsenopyrite specimen. The gold was so finely dispersed in the ore that you could only see it with a microscope.
But the veins were vertical, too thin and too far between to ever be mined economically. Still today the only trace from that period is a number of ditches crisscrossing the woods in an area a couple of hundred meters across.

The modern mines in the area is driven in ores with a couple of grams per ton but with millions of tons of ore. To successfully drive a modern mine you need the economics of size to offset all fixed costs. Small mines could have fantastic high gold contents but if the ore is too small it isn't worth the start up costs.

The most common ore processing here is crushing coupled with flotation to create a sulphide concentrate sent to a smelter. At least one mine is using gravimetric concentration to get a gold concentrate before using flotation of the rest to get the sulphides that also contains gold and silver. One or two mines use cyanide leaching in a couple of big agitation tanks.

edit: spelling


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## semi-lucid

g_axelsson said:


> The most common ore processing here is crushing coupled with flotation to create a sulphide concentrate sent to a smelter. At least one mine is using gravimetric concentration to get a gold concentrate before using flotation of the rest to get the sulphides that also contains gold and silver. One or two mines use cyanide leaching in a couple of big agitation tanks.


g_

I was hoping you might comment on this, since you have mentioned arsenic bearing ore in another thread. 

How is the arsenic disposed of at the mines that you mentioned :?: 
Do they bury it?
If they grind the ore to a powder, do the cemment it together somehow? 

Thanks.


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## g_axelsson

First of all, the smelter I'm talking about is Rönnskärsverken, one of the largest smelter and refinery in Europe. It's owned by Boliden mining company.

The arsenic is following the other sulphides in the concentrate sent to the smelter. There the ore is roasted.to drive off sulphur and arsenic. The arsenic is collected in large filters, collected and deposited in large storage areas lined with rubber and watertight clay to stop leakage into nature. The plan is to use an old abandoned mine to store the waste in. The mines here goes down to 1200 meters depth so far.

This is all done on industrial scale, the local smelter treats the concentrate from a number of mines around here. Total amount of sulphide concentrate processed in 2007 was 600 000 tons plus 110 000 tons of scrap metal and 36000 tons of electronic scrap. The interesting part of the production was 12 ton gold, 347 ton silver and 214 000 ton copper.

The arsenic is a contamination in the ore, there is more than enough to cover the world consumption many times around so the mines are paying fines depending on how much arsenic there is in the ore.

Whenever I collected metallic arsenic as mineral specimens they just smiled. I don't think it mattered in any way but I collected 50-100 kilos of almost pure arsenic. Almost pure, as the arsenic actually contained circa 10% silver.


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## semi-lucid

Interesting. So what was the volume/weight of the arsenic contaminated waste per ton of ore? (typically)

John


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## Irons

semi-lucid said:


> Interesting. So what was the volume/weight of the arsenic contaminated waste per ton of ore? (typically)
> 
> John



I've run into 'ore' that was over 50% As by weight.

It had a small amount of values, but not enough to cover the cost of disposal, let alone chemicals.


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## g_axelsson

I have no idea of specifics on what the smelter processed. I've only visited these places, never worked there.
For the mine that I know best I would make a guess that it was a couple of percent compared to the copper contents. The ore that I've seen ranged from pure chalcopyrite boulders of several tons to almost pure arsenopyrite in 10 kilos pieces.


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## semi-lucid

g_axelsson said:


> Total amount of sulphide concentrate processed in 2007 was 600 000 tons plus 110 000 tons of scrap metal and 36000 tons of electronic scrap. The interesting part of the production was 12 ton gold, 347 ton silver and 214 000 ton copper.



So that's a total of 746 000 tons, yielding 12 tons of gold. Is that 16 gram/ton? Or am I punching my calculator wrong? I suppose the 110 000 tons of scrap metal shouldn't count.

Reading about all of this, I wonder why they don't try to leave the arsenic as metallic arsenic instead of an oxide. The metallic form would have the lowest volume/weight. Although it would have to be sealed up tight to sequester it.



Irons said:


> I've run into 'ore' that was over 50% As by weight.



Wow. That 'ore' must not have had much copper???



g_axelsson said:


> Whenever I collected metallic arsenic as mineral specimens they just smiled. I don't think it mattered in any way but I collected 50-100 kilos of almost pure arsenic. Almost pure, as the arsenic actually contained circa 10% silver.



Does that smile mean that you recovered the silver?

Regards.
John


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## g_axelsson

16 grams per ton doesn't seem to much for me, it is concentrated ore after flotation.

It all boils down to economics, to reduce the arsenic oxide to metallic arsenic would take a lot of power, work and processing equipment. I don't think it is really pure either so it is a lot faster and cheaper to store it with the rest of the wastes.
It is not only arsenic that ends up in the waste storage. Cadmium and mercury is just two metals that I can think of that has to be taken care of.

No, I didn't recover the silver but I added the smiley because I know many people here is only thinking about precious metals and never consider that it could have a value beyond the metal contents. Actually I kept all of it as mineral specimens. It is world class specimens of allargentum and worth many times more than it's weight in silver. Small pieces with arsenic only, 10-20 grams range could easily fetch $20 or more on ebay and pieces with visible silver mineral (allargentum) would fetch a lot more than that. I have enough arsenic specimens to keep selling for the next 20 years. 

I don't have any allargentum pictures online yet but I can show you a nice piece of gold in quartz from Björkdal gold mine. The specimen is 6 cm long and have several pieces of visible gold.
[img:800:600]http://www.geology.neab.net/pictures/rock341.jpg[/img]

And a small piece of base rock with arsenic on top. It turns brown to black on the surface after a while. Specimen length 4.5 cm. This one ended up in Australia.
[img:800:600]http://www.webshop.neab.net/ebay/2008/Arsenik-0004.jpg[/img]


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## semi-lucid

g_axelsson said:


> It all boils down to economics, to reduce the arsenic oxide to metallic arsenic would take a lot of power, work and processing equipment.



You are probably right, but since the arsenic is not oxidized in the arsenopyrite molecule, FeAsS or (Fe,Co)AsS, it would only be necessary to break the bonds between the As and iron and sulfur. In pyrite, FeS2, the iron and the sulfur are bonded, so it makes me wonder how strong the As bond(s) would be.

At any rate, I'm probably relying on Wikipedia too much. The arsenic page says: 

*On roasting in air of arsenopyrite, arsenic sublimes as arsenic (III) oxide leaving iron oxides, while roasting without air results in the production of metallic arsenic. For further purification of the arsenic from sulfur and other chacogenes is sublimed in vacuum or in a hydrogen atmosphere or by distilling it from molten lead-arsenic mixture. * 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenic Look in the section labeled "Production" The oxidation of arsenic may be exothermic, providing some of the heat for roasting. However, in the two stage roasts that are employed, it seems like it might be possible to get metallic arsenic from the first roast. (between 450 C to 550 C)



g_axelsson said:


> No, I didn't recover the silver but I added the smiley because I know many people here is only thinking about precious metals and never consider that it could have a value beyond the metal contents. Actually I kept all of it as mineral specimens. It is world class specimens of allargentum and worth many times more than it's weight in silver. Small pieces with arsenic only, 10-20 grams range could easily fetch $20 or more on ebay and pieces with visible silver mineral (allargentum) would fetch a lot more than that. I have enough arsenic specimens to keep selling for the next 20 years.



I didn't think you would refine it for the silver. That's why I was confused by the smiley 

Regards.
John

Oh, by the way, nice pictures. (Nice rocks!)


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## g_axelsson

semi-lucid said:


> At any rate, I'm probably relying on Wikipedia too much. The arsenic page says:
> 
> *On roasting in air of arsenopyrite, arsenic sublimes as arsenic (III) oxide leaving iron oxides, while roasting without air results in the production of metallic arsenic. For further purification of the arsenic from sulfur and other chacogenes is sublimed in vacuum or in a hydrogen atmosphere or by distilling it from molten lead-arsenic mixture. *
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenic Look in the section labeled "Production" The oxidation of arsenic may be exothermic, providing some of the heat for roasting. However, in the two stage roasts that are employed, it seems like it might be possible to get metallic arsenic from the first roast. (between 450 C to 550 C)



The important part of that wikipedia page is that the process is exothermic. With the sulphide contents in the concentrate the roasting process is self sustaining. But to treat the arsenic in a step prior to the roasting just to drive off a small percent of impurities in an oven under protective atmosphere is a much more complex process than to just roast the ore and collect the arsenic oxide in the smoke stack by cooling the gases. The sulphur is collected as sulphuric acid by a scrubber after the arsenic filter.

Don't forget that they are producing copper, lead, zinc, silver and gold, not arsenic.

I've heard people talk about the worst job in the factory is to clean the arsenic filters.



semi-lucid said:


> Oh, by the way, nice pictures. (Nice rocks!)



Thanks!


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## semi-lucid

One last question about this. (Or maybe two or three or four.  )



g_axelsson said:


> it is concentrated ore after flotation



Are the materials removed during flotation 100% free of arsenic?

Mostly Silica is removed?

Is there any copper/silver/gold lost in the flotation process?

If the gold is in extremely fine particle's, it seems like it would be difficult not to loose some during flotation. Or maybe it is the fine particle's that allow it to float?

It's just difficult for me to imagine that flotation could be 100% efficient. And if the tailing's from flotation are contaminated with arsenic, they would be part of the disposal problem.

Regards.
John


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## g_axelsson

Flotation is done by chrushing the ore to a fine powder and mix it with certain chemicals. Then you bubble air through it and the ore particles get stuck to the air bubbles, creating a foam of ore concentrate. Silicates and other minerals doesn't stick to the bubbles and is washed out as tilings.

Of course it's not 100% effective, it is the exact percentage that gives most return of invested money as all industrial processes. I don't know the exact percentage but I think it is quite high though. Most of the gold in the ore is microscopic together with the sulphides. It is really rare to find visible gold in these mines.

I was talking with one of the geologists and he had never seen gold in the mine even though some parts of the ore had up to 100 g per ton.
Oh, I have a large piece of pyrite from about that spot, No, I can't see any gold either.

You will find arsenic in the ore, in the sulphide concentrate, in the tailings and in the scrap pile outside the mine. The thing is to control and limit the release of heavy metals to the surrounding. You could do that in a number of different ways depending on many factors. I've seen a couple of different solutions. Covering it under clay to keep water from getting to it, rising the ground water to cover the rocks to stop oxygen getting to it, dumping it back into the mine after it closed... and so on.


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## semi-lucid

I suppose the bottom line for this thread is, arsenic bearing ore's are not good material for amateur refiners. 

It's probably best for hobbyists to learn to recognize them, and steer clear of them. Leave them to company's with deep pockets.

I still wonder about that ore geubrina showed in this thread:

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=3456

15% Cu & 22%? Fe. 

Does that not look like a sulfide ore? Is there a likelihood that it could contain arsenic?

You would think that his analysis report would have told him, but he only provided page two of the report.

John


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## g_axelsson

Clearly a sulphide. I would guess on chalcopyrite and that would be consistent with the copper versus iron content. There is a lot in that rock that isn't reported but with 15% copper the valuable part isn't the gold but the copper. The question is, how large is the mineralization?

If I found something like that here in Sweden I would go to the miners office and register a claim on that find. Then I would do some poking around by my self to find out if there are any areas close by that I also should claim. Then I would contact a mining company and sell it.

To evaluate a mineralization and start a mine is a really costly business today and nothing for an amateur.
The only sensible thing to do if you find a very rich but small ore body, too small for a regular mining company, is to mine the sulphide and try to sell it to a smelter that have all the refining equipment needed for processing complex sulphide ores. To them the arsenic content is no problem, it is something they deal with on a daily basis.

The problem many amateurs does is they grab a sample of the best looking ore, get it assayed and finds very high numbers. But the real numbers are a lot lower. Then they will spend a fortune trying to mine the ore or to find an investor falling for their fine numbers. To get a real evaluation you have to do ore calculations based on prospective drilling through the ore body in a number of places. By calculating mean ore yields and tonnage you get a realistic value of your ore. If it is more than the price of mining it you got a winner. If not the best thing is just to walk away. If metal prices rises then it could become interesting again.

As for why the report didn't contain any arsenic it was probably not asked for. The more detailed analyze the more it cost. In a prospective phase you usually concentrate on the values.


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## Irons

Johnson Matthey has a limit of 400 PPM on Arsenic content. I've sent samples of Arsenic bearing material to commercial refiners and the only material they showed any interest in assayed 35 PPM As. Even at 35 PPM, it is a hazard unless precautions are taken. That was the lowest As concentration I have found so far in PM bearing 'ore.'

Just getting an assay for precious metals is a waste of time unless you have the ore assayed for elements that would invoke a penalty.


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## Richard36

What minerals invoke a penalty? I am aware of antimony and arsenic, what are the others?


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## Irons

Richard36 said:


> What minerals invoke a penalty? I am aware of antimony and arsenic, what are the others?



Zero tolerance for Beryllium, any radionucleides( Radium,Uranium, Thorium, etc)It could be any nunber of things Like Osmium, Ruthenium concentration.

The setup charge can be pretty steep and you may have to pay up front. They have to make their nickel too.

I'm sure there are rfefiners who can give you advice. They may not want to work with it at all and politely show you the door.

Look for a refiner the way you would look for a wife Give them their pound of flesh, so when they stick it to you, you're both smiling.


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## Palladium

Just some Notes :arrow: 

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=39516#39516

Pre-oxidation of high-sulfur and high-arsenic refractory gold concentrate by ozone and ferric ions in acidic media

Qingcui Lia, Dengxin Li , a, , and Fangjun Qiana
aCollege of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Songjiang District, Shanghai 201620, China

Received 28 September 2008; 
revised 13 January 2009; 
accepted 14 January 2009. 
Available online 22 January 2009. 

Abstract
Owing to precious metals and hazardous elements contained in high-sulfur and high-arsenic refractory gold concentrate (HGC), effective treatment of HGC can have both economic and environmental benefits. In this paper, pre-oxidation HGC by ozone and Fe (III) in acidic media and subsequent cyanide leaching of the pretreated ores were investigated. An L9 (four factors in three levels) standard orthogonal array was employed to evaluate the effects of ferric concentration, reaction temperature, reaction time, and liquid to solid ratio on ferric extraction from HGC. Statistical techniques were used to determine that reaction temperature was the most significant factors affecting ferric extraction. Furthermore, the results of factorial experiments showed ferric extraction increased with an increase of ozone concentration, liquid to solid ratio and temperature, but was independent of stirring speed when the speed was above 860 rpm. Also, the selected oxidized residues after the pretreatment process were characterized by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and subjected to subsequent cyanide leaching tests. Gold extraction after pre-oxidation under optimum conditions increased from 19.5% of direct cyanide leaching to 96.5%.

Keywords: Pre-oxidation; Ozone and ferric sulfate; Orthogonal experiment; High-sulfur and high-arsenic refractory gold concentrate

Ozone will oxidize metals except gold, platinum, and iridium to oxides of the metals in their highest oxidation state. Ozone can be used to remove manganese from the water, forming a precipitate which can be filtered. The highest levels of ozone in the atmosphere are in the stratosphere, in a region also known as the ozone layer between about 10 km and 50 km above the surface. Here it filters out the shorter wavelengths less than 320 nm of ultraviolet light 270 to 400 nm from the Sun that would be harmful to most forms of life in large doses. These same wavelengths are also among those responsible for the production of vitamin D, which is essential for human health. Ozone can be used for bleaching substances and for killing bacteria. Disinfect laundry in hospitals, food factories, care homes etc, Disinfect water before it is bottled, deodorize air and objects, such as after a fire, kill bacteria on food or on contact surfaces, scrub yeast and mold spores from the air in food processing plants, wash fresh fruits and vegetables to kill yeast, mold and bacteria, chemically attack contaminants in water such us iron, arsenic, hydrogen sulfide, nitrites, and complex organics lumped together as color, provide an aid to flocculation (agglomeration of molecules, which aids in filtration, where the iron and arsenic are removed).


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## Richard36

So, let's see then. If I leach some concentrate with Poor Mans AR( Sodium Nitrate / Muratic Acid mix ), Could I then gas the solution with ozone to drop out impurities, as well as somewhat neutralize the solution by removing the nitrate portion, then recover the Gold from solution with Sulfur Dioxide gas, or ferrous sulfate, And platinum with Ammonium Chloride?


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## Palladium

See the link. 
Use the information.

Use the force Luke.


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## Richard36

Thanks. I have already done so. Allot of good info. The process that I proposed is my own hypothesis, and did not see it covered. Did I miss it some where? Nonetheless, will the above process work? I admit, the sulfur dioxide info., and the ammonium chlorate / chloride process is listed, but nothing about Ozone gas as a neutralizing, and possibly a precipitating agent.


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## semi-lucid

g_axelsson said:


> Clearly a sulphide. I would guess on chalcopyrite and that would be consistent with the copper versus iron content. There is a lot in that rock that isn't reported but with 15% copper the valuable part isn't the gold but the copper. The question is, how large is the mineralization?



From Wikipedia, Chalcopyrite http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalcopyrite



> "it is often contaminated by a variety of other trace elements such as Co, Ni, Mn, Zn and Sn substituting for Cu and Fe. Se, Fe and *As* substitute for sulfur, and trace amounts of Ag, Au, Pt, Pd, Pb, V, Cr, In, Al and Sb are reported.
> 
> It is likely many of these elements are present in finely intergrown minerals within the chalcopyrite crystal, for instance *lamellae of arsenopyrite representing As*, molybdenite representing Mo, etc"



Sounds like geubrina has a complex and possibly toxic ore.



g_axelsson said:


> The only sensible thing to do if you find a very rich but small ore body, too small for a regular mining company, is to mine the sulphide and try to sell it to a smelter that have all the refining equipment needed for processing complex sulphide ores. To them the arsenic content is no problem, it is something they deal with on a daily basis.



That could be _very_ good advice for geubrina. He was looking for a way to do the process on his own. (As I re-read his thread, I saw that he identified the materials as sulphide.) 



geubrina said:


> Yes, Harold, there are many specimens of minerals in our area. But, for a big scale mining company, they want to find a big phorpyryr ore body.
> 
> Here, the minerals are many kinds (complex) but no big quantity (as a company standard, the quantity is small).
> 
> Also, you know, the regulation here is not so good. Everybody can interpretate as they want...
> 
> But, in Papua Island, there is huge ore body and huge US company (Freeport) exploiting the copper and gold...



Maybe be he could sell ore to Freeport. If he can work out a safe way to mine and transport it.

Regards.
John


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## geubrina

Last year, I met a man who admitted as a senior Geologist who worked for Freeport, some years ago. He is so enthusiastic to see the sample copper ore. He said it is skarn and suspect a huge ore body there.

Another characteristic of the ore is it is strongly magnetic. I think it is cubanite because of the approx composition of Copper, Iron and Sulphur is most similar to Cubanite, then to Chalcopyrite. And they are both sulphide type.

It is right that it has veins that has the value of copper at 12-17% (for random sampling not selected). Another information is that, my friend who checked the ore with a Handheld XRF, show the result of Ir at 0.037-0.09%! Now, I am sending the sample to Randy to check the values of Precious Metals in it. Maybe good news will come from him.

I have spent most of my money at last mining season, due to heavy rain. So, now I must wait for more cash to start the mining again. 

Anyway, thanks to John and all friends here for all comments and ideas. Appreciate it very much.


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## semi-lucid

geubrina

In the USA, there is much land owned by the government. When a person finds a valuable mine site, they are sometimes able file a "claim", which gives them legal protection, and the right to mine the site.

In Indonesia, are you able to file a claim if you find a good mine site?



> I have spent most of my money at last mining season, due to heavy rain. So, now I must wait for more cash to start the mining again.



When is mining season in Indonesia?

Anyway, be careful about the arsenic. It is toxic, and it is known to cause cancer in humans. It can pollute rivers and groundwater. It's Bad stuff :evil: 



John


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## geubrina

John, I have bought the land and made claim for the mining right. But, it is not so simple. I can not explain it in the open forum.

What I meant with the mining season is the period of time when we have the possibility to mine without having the heavy rain. The heavy rain cause high cost and high risk. That is what happened to me last year.

Usually, we have half year dry season and half year raining season. But now, it is so unstable. Last year, almost the whole year is raining season there.


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## geubrina

semi-lucid said:


> geubrina
> 
> Anyway, be careful about the arsenic. It is toxic, and it is known to cause cancer in humans. It can pollute rivers and groundwater. It's Bad stuff :evil:
> 
> 
> John



Thanks for the warning about the arsenic. I will watch out and take preventive actions.


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## Richard36

What search topic should I search under to find a smelter that I could send sulfide concentrate to? If I could send sulfides to a smelter to have it processed, and be money ahead, versus the cost of processing it myself, I would be very interested in doing so. Sincerely; Rick.


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## semi-lucid

I don't really know that much about it, but I have been doing some reading. My best guess would be that copper refineries are the ones smelting sulfides. PM's are essentially a byproduct. Seems to be a big industry in Sweden, but that would be an expensive shipping bill. :wink:

Regards.
John


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## Richard36

The presence of arsenic can be tested for by grinding a sample of the ore to be tested to a fine powder, then moisten the end of a "Platinum Wire" (a short length of wooden dowl with a length of platinum wire protruding from one end. They can be obtained from "Miners Incorporated" www.minerox.com) with distilled water, ( "City Water" contains chlorine, and the chlorine could react with elements in the sample, causing the flame color to change) and then dipping the tip in the finely ground sample. Now place the tip of the platinum wire in the uppermost part of an alcohol lamp flame. ("Alcohol Lamps" can be obtained from "Miners" as well.) The predominant mineral in the sample will impart a color to the colorless alcohol flame. With Arsenic the color imparted to the flame is light blue, with Lead it is whitish blue, with Tellurium it is pale blue, and with Selenium it is darkish blue. I hope that this has been of some help. Sincerely; Rick.


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## Richard36

Thanks for the reply John. Anyone else have any suggestions?


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## usaman65

rich-
the assay will be out shortly sorry bout the waight.

kev


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## Richard36

Not an issue. I will contact you when I receive it. Sincerely; Rick.


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