High-sulfide gold ores contain a high proportion of sulfide minerals such as pyrite and arsenopyrite, in which the gold grade is relatively low, and the natural gold particles are fine, usually tightly wrapped by sulfide minerals such as pyrite. The characteristics of this type of ore are that gold and sulfide are closely related, resulting in a low gold recovery rate in the direct leaching process, and high consumption and production costs of gold leaching agents. Therefore, for high-sulfide gold ores, the direct cyanide leaching process is not recommended.
Flotation is a common process for processing gold-containing sulfide mineral ores and is widely used in gold ore beneficiation plants. It enriches gold into copper, lead, sulfur and other concentrates, and then extracts gold from these concentrates, which can not only achieve the comprehensive utilization of multiple metals, but also improve the gold recovery rate. For gold ores containing non-ferrous metals in the original ore, flotation is an economical and reasonable process. In order to improve the return on investment, the combined beneficiation process of flotation and other processes for ores of different properties can sometimes achieve more impressive results.
Use the table of contents below to navigate through the guide:
01Sulfide gold ore beneficiation: gravity separation-flotation process
The gravity separation-flotation process is suitable for ores where gold and sulfide are closely coexisting and gold can only be recovered by smelting. It is also suitable for gold-bearing quartz vein ores with uneven coarse grains. The original ore is subjected to flotation to obtain flotation concentrate. However, flotation tailings often contain sulfides associated with the gangue, and the coarse natural gold wrapped in these sulfides is not easy to be recovered by flotation. In order to effectively recover this gold, gravity separation equipment is used to first recover the coarse gold, thereby improving the gold recovery rate of the entire gold ore beneficiation process. Commonly used gravity separation equipment includes jigs, shaking tables and spiral chutes.
![gold ore beneficiation: gravity separation gold ore beneficiation: gravity separation](/uploads/news/2024/gold-ore-gravity-separation-process.jpg)
02Sulfide gold ore beneficiation: flotation-concentrate cyanidation process
The flotation - concentrate cyanidation process is often used to treat gold ores in gold-bearing quartz veins and gold-bearing pyrite quartz veins. Usually, xanthate is used as a collector and pine oil is used as a frother to flotate in a weakly alkaline slurry to obtain gold concentrate. Subsequently, the flotation concentrate is leached by cyanide, the gold is dissolved by cyanide, the complex enters the solution, and then replaced with zinc powder to obtain gold mud, which is then smelted by pyrometallurgy to obtain pure gold. This gold ore beneficiation process not only reduces the need for fine grinding of all ores, reduces power consumption and infrastructure investment, but also improves the recovery rate of gold.
![concentrate cyanidation process concentrate cyanidation process](/uploads/news/2024/gold-ore-cyanidation-process-plant.jpg)
03Sulfide gold ore beneficiation: flotation-roasting-cyanidation process
For the treatment of complex ores such as insoluble gold-arsenic ore, gold-zinc ore and gold-pyrite with particularly high sulfide content, the flotation-roasting-cyanidation process is an effective comprehensive treatment process. When treating flotation concentrates with high arsenic and sulfur content, the cyanide tailings often enrich impurities such as sulfur, iron, and arsenic after flotation, forming high-sulfur and high-arsenic concentrates that are difficult to directly cyanide leaching. For this reason, these flotation gold concentrates are first oxidized and roasted, which can not only effectively remove arsenic and sulfur, but also make the roasted sand structure loose, which is conducive to the further leaching of gold and silver.
![cyanidation process cyanidation process](/uploads/news/2024/agitation-tank-system-from-xinhai-for-ore-processing.png)
04Sulfide gold ore beneficiation: flotation - concentrate thiourea leaching process
It is particularly suitable for processing vein gold ores that contain arsenic, sulfur or carbon and are high in mud. This process first uses flotation to enrich the gold-bearing sulfide into concentrate, and then uses thiourea for leaching. Thiourea acid solution has a rapid dissolution ability for gold and silver, and thiourea has low toxicity and is easy to regenerate. Thiourea leaching is not affected by mineral components such as antimony, arsenic, copper, and sulfur, which often interfere with cyanide gold extraction. Therefore, the thiourea leaching process can effectively extract gold and silver from gold-bearing mineral ores that are difficult to treat by cyanide. Compared with cyanide leaching, the time required for thiourea leaching is greatly shortened, thereby improving the efficiency of gold extraction.
![gold ore beneficiation: flotation gold ore beneficiation: flotation](/uploads/news/2024/copper-nickel-ore-beneficiation-flotation-cell.png)
There are many types of gold ores, and the applicable gold ore beneficiation processes are also different. Therefore, before selecting a beneficiation process, it is necessary to conduct a beneficiation test and analysis on the ore, and customize a beneficiation process that meets the characteristics of the ore based on a scientific and reasonable test report. This method can not only improve the extraction efficiency of gold, but also reduce production costs, achieve economical and environmentally friendly mining, and thus achieve an ideal recovery rate.
05Xinhai Mining-Part of the Gold Ore Processing Plant Project
1. Guinea 6000tpd gold ore dressing plant
![Guinea 6000tpd gold ore dressing plant Guinea 6000tpd gold ore dressing plant](/uploads/news/2024/Guinea-6000tpd-gold-ore-dressing-plant.jpg)
2. Russia 500tpd gold ore dressing plant
![Russia 500tpd gold ore dressing plant Russia 500tpd gold ore dressing plant](/uploads/news/2024/Russia-500tpd-gold-ore-dressing-plant.jpg)
3. Mongolia 3 million tpa gold ore dressing plant
![Mongolia 3 million tpa gold ore dressing plant Mongolia 3 million tpa gold ore dressing plant](/uploads/news/2024/Mongolia-3-million-tpa-gold-ore-dressing-plant.jpg)
4. Burundi 1200tpd gold ore dressing plant
![Burundi 1200tpd gold ore dressing plant Burundi 1200tpd gold ore dressing plant](/uploads/news/2024/Burundi-1200tpd-gold-ore-dressing-plant.jpg)
5. Iran 300tpd gold ore dressing plant
![Iran 300tpd gold ore dressing plant Iran 300tpd gold ore dressing plant](/uploads/news/2024/Iran-300tpd-gold-ore-dressing-plant.jpg)
6. Malaysia 500tpd gold ore dressing plant
![Malaysia 500tpd gold ore dressing plant Malaysia 500tpd gold ore dressing plant](/uploads/news/2024/Malaysia-500tpd-gold-ore-dressing-plant.jpg)