Abstract
The 1,3-benzenediamidoethanethiol ligand (BDET) completely precipitates soft heavy metals from aqueous solutions under a wide range of conditions. In the present study, the sodium salt of this ligand was applied during the cyanide leaching of ore samples collected from an active gold-mining site in South America. The ligand irreversibly binds mercury from solutions containing cyanide, similarly to those present in the gold-cyanide process (GCP). The present work tests the industrial viability of BDET in the GCP through a column leaching study on ores from South America. The average mercury concentration in the ore samples was 5.22 ppm (milligrams of Hg per kilogram of ore), leached by 19.1% after cyanide extraction. After addition of BDET to the extractant solution, leached mercury from the columns decreased to 0.001 ppm, whereas the leached gold and silver concentrations remained unaffected.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 5278-5282 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue number | 21 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 16 2002 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemistry
- General Chemical Engineering
- Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
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