1 Historical developments Many of the methods now used for gold extraction are based on techniques that have been known or established for centuries. Gravity concentration, amalgamation, cyanide leaching, chlorination, zinc precipitation and carbon/charcoal adsorption are all processes which have been known for at least a hundred years and combi- nations of these remain as the basis for most gold recovery flowsheets. The ingenuity of the early pioneers to develop technology with such longevity is admirable. On numerous occasions rediscovery or re-evaluation of this technology has led to its commercial redevelopment, incorporating the advantages of contem- porary improvements. Consequently, it is important to know the historical back- ground to gold extraction processes and technology, as it may well help to shape the future. The predominance of cyanidation as the principal gold extraction technique since the late 19th century, and the commercial acceptance of other important hydrome- tallurgical processes, naturally divides the history of gold extraction into four main eras: (1) Pre-cyanidation. (2) Cyanidation. (3) 1972-1990: Era of major technical development. (4) Towards the 21st century. The key dates in this categorization are the adoption of cyanidation and zinc precipitation in 1888 and the boom in new technology which started in 1972, when the gold price was allowed to move with market forces. 1.1 PRE-CYANIDATION 1.1.1 Early history Gold and copper were the first metals used by man because of their occurrence in the native state and their malleable and ductile properties, which meant that they could be easily worked with primitive tools. The earliest uses of gold were in the Middle East, during the Neolithic age, where gold was collected from stream beds either manually or by crude gravity concentration methods.28 Historical developments [Ch. 1 In Egypt, during the reign of Menes in 3050 BC, gold was used as a means of monetary payment, as grains and small bars. However, since this time, the major application for gold has been in decoration and jewellery, as is the case today (Fig. 1.1). Finely worked gold ornaments have been found in graves in Mesopotamia originating from about 2700 BC. Similarly, gold mining in Egypt started with alluvial workings and was followed by shallow underground vein mining in Nubia in about 1300 Bc. Activity centred around the area of Hammamet with mines up to 90 m deep and sometimes extending 500 m along veins. Early gold recovery methods were varieties of gravity concentration and manual sorting. Bar hoarding 19% Coins 5% Medals 1% Industrial 2% \\\ '| Dentistry 2% \ | \ Electi 5% Jewellery 67% S jectronics Fig. 1.1 — Gold usage in 1989. The legend of Jason and the Argonauts probably described the voyage of prospectors to gold placers near the Black Sea in about 1300 BC. The miners used sheep’s fleeces placed in sluices to trap gold. The efficiency of this technique was aided by the use of oils in the fleece to help collect gold; one of the earliest applications of surface chemistry in mineral processing. It is likely that gold wetting by mercury (amalgamation) was known in 1000 BC, although it was not commonly used as a commercial gold recovery process until much later, In Turkey, around 700 BC, the first gold coins were produced but it was only after a process for fire refining of gold was developed in 560 BC that pure gold coins were minted [1]. This process used salt to remove silver, as silver chloride, from gold metal. Alloying of gold and silver was known to the Egyptians as early as 500 BC. 1.1.2 European developments to 1848 Roman exploitation of their empire for its mineral wealth was widespread, with gold used as the principal form of payment for imports, notably from China. Mining inSec. 1.1] Pre-cyanidation 29 Spain was particularly well-developed with technology such as hydraulic mining, water wheels and the Archimedian screw. At this time there were also thriving mining schools throughout Europe. The Romans used a sluicing technique whereby broken rock was washed through channels containing prickly shrubs which caught the gold. During the Roman and Greek eras the vast majority of mine workers were slaves who were subjected to atrocious working conditions and incurred a high mortality rate. The decline of the Roman empire also resulted in diminished mining activity until a revival in the 11th century, based in Central Europe. Gold mining developments were centred around the Harz area, which is now in eastern Germany, and the Eastern Alps. By AD 1400 amalgamation and retorting processes were used widely in gold extraction [2]. The classic book De Re Metallica [3] by Georg Bauer, who was usually known by his Latin name of Georgius Agricola, provided a good description of mining and mineral dressing practice in 16th century Germany. European metallurgical practices spread to South America as the prosperity of Central European gold and silver mines came to an abrupt end in the 1550s, when Mexico and the parts of South America now known as Columbia, Peru and Bolivia were conquered by Spain. One of the most significant early finds was the Choco alluvial deposits in Columbia. Production costs were lower than those of European mines, even with the greater transportation distances to Europe, largely because South American operations used primitive, cheap and labour-intensive panning of stream bed material. In 1693 the Minas Gerais deposits in Brazil were discovered and have been in production to the present day. One curiosity of this Conquistador era is that the Spanish metallurgists in South America encountered some very impure Columbian gold, which occurred with platinum, an element unknown in Europe at the time. This material was thought to be unripe gold and the Spanish treasury ordered it to be discarded into the sea as waste. The South American competition depressed the European mining industry until the industrial revolution in Britain in the 19th century. In Europe during this period a common gold recovery technique was amalgamation using copper plates. Gold was also produced from other areas of European exploration, such as West Africa, which produced 1 million ounces for export to Europe between 1400 and 1600. Production was also significant from China, Japan and India during this time. 1.1.3 The gold rush era In the first half of the 19th century, Russia was the main source of gold, supplying 60% of the world’s production. Underground gold mining started in 1744 near Ekaterinburg and output increased following the discovery and development of numerous alluvial deposits nearby. A discovery in Siberia in 1838 on the river Ulderey resulted in a gold rush. Significant mining activity also occurred in the Lena Basin (Fig. 1.2) from 1846. The main gold recovery method was primitive gravity concentration by panning, although steam and water power-driven trommels and strakes were also introduced. Russian gold output was eclipsed by a series of gold rushes in California (USA), South America, Victoria (Australia) and New Zealand. The 1848 gold rush in30 Historical developments. [Ch. 1 Arctic Ocean YENISEI GOLDFIELD Lom 1000 miles 1000 kilometers Fig. 1.2 — Gold mining areas of the USSR [4] California (Fig. 1.3), following the discovery of gold in the previous year, was perhaps the most important of these, opening up the west of the USA and contributing significantly to the establishment of the nation. Early Californian miners found gold in dry stream beds where the grade was so high that processing simply consisted of tossing sand and gravels in a blanket, i.e. crude dry gravity concentration. Panning techniques were also common but were superseded by improved gravity concentration equipment, such as cradles and long toms, which consisted of screens and sluices. Similar alluvial deposits were exploited in Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, British Columbia and South Dakota. However, the most economic and easily mineable reserves were soon exhausted and the importance of hard rock quartz vein mining increased. The Australian gold rush started in 1851 with an initial find at Bathurst (New South Wales) and large quantities near Ballarat and Bendigo in Victoria (Fig. 1.4). Water shortages restricted the use of the long tom, and consequently gravity concentration equipment requiring less water, such as the rocker, was used and supplemented by puddling tubs to break up clay in the ore. Again, as surface alluvial gold was exhausted, underground mining developed. Further gold finds were made in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and New Zealand in subsequent years. In 1882, the use of dredging wasSec. 1.1] Pre-cyanidation 31 1858 Gg ~yFor 78 t # Colville *gi % i WASHINGTON | “MONTANA A NA Helena (last chance Guluch), - tals “QREGON™ & Humboldt City 1859 9 Grass Valley* G ¥ Placerville © eG sur rancid \ 6 Mill 1848 2 -NEWMEXICO dg A os 8 i My 48 G sold RNS ‘Santa Rita aR Tucson % 8 silver otc ee LAND HEIGHTS Te act tops rare eG, 10000 ft. (3048 m) and above qeprc er lomotane nap, between 6000 ft (1829 m) and 10000 ft 1 lo 400 miles Marco) 0 500 kilometres Fig. 1.3 — Major gold and silver finds in America, 1848-90 [4] first reported, in New Zealand [2]. The first USA dredge was employed at Barmack (Montana) in 1897. During the gold rush era, gravity concentration equipment was developed to treat a wider range of ore types on larger scales. Amalgamation circuits were modified to include the use ‘of potassium cyanide to clean the mercury/copper surfaces. Gravity concentration and amalgamation were used in crushing circuits to recover gold at the earliest possible stage in the flowsheet; a principle of flowsheet design which is still va32 Historical developments [Ch.1 Cooktown Hodgkinson Goldfield z i GOLD NORTHERN | ?? (4g795,) kTownsville Rosbourns i erritory |} \ 0 ' i Rockhampton Hamersiey Ranges i Tec ENT AnD, J. Gladstone IRON ORE (1960s.) (Port Curtis) WESTERN oS AUSTRALIA SOUTH Southern AUSTRALIA Crosse Kalgoorlie GOLD Coolgardie Perth 4 (1890s.), Adelaide GOLD Fevdney Experance APS i (1860s.) 1 0 500 1000 mites GOLD TOR) 4K, (18505) 6 patina 0 500 1000 __1500 kilometres Ballarat Ge perertet Fig. 1.4 — Early gold finds in Australia [4] Attention then turned to underground deposits with the discovery of the Mother Lode (California, USA) and Comstock Lode (Nevada, USA) in the 1850s. The Klondike (Yukon, Canada) and Nome (Alaska, USA) gold rushes of 1897 and 1898, respectively, marked the end of the prospector era. By this time, the Witwatersrand in South Africa was in production, following the discovery of gold in 1886, heralding the next great gold mining era (see section 1.2.1) 1.1.4. Early hydrometallurgy Despite the advances in gravity concentration and amalgamation, these processes were unsuitable for the recovery of fine gold and gold associated with sulphide minerals. These drawbacks prompted the search for an effective hydrometallurgical process. Chlorine gas was discovered in 1774 and soon became a commercially available commodity. In 1848 Plattner proposed a process for the treatment of gold ores which consisted of passing chlorine gas over crushed ore to produce a soluble gold chloride which could be dissolved in water. The gold was then precipitated from solution by ferrous sulphate, hydrogen sulphide or charcoal. Chlorination was first used com- mercially to treat Deetken ore (California) in 1858 [5]. By the mid 1860s various chlorination processes were used in the USA, South Africa and Australia, often to supplement existing gravity concentration circuits or to treat sulphide-rich concen- trates. These included entirely hydrometallurgical routes in which chlorine was added in the solution phase.Sec. 1.1] Pre-cyanidation 33 Chlorination was rarely applied to whole ores directly, mainly because of the high treatment cost which resulted in high gold cut-off grades (about 50 g t~'). In addition, ores containing arsenides, antimonides and large amounts of sulphides had to be oxidized prior to chlorination, as was also to be the case for cyanidation in the next century [5]. In a process which would have been effective, though probably expensive and potentially dangerous, Molesworth in 1891 proposed that gold could be extracted from pyrite by roasting at relatively low temperature with oxygen injection. The calcine could then be amalgamated, although a 15-30 min aqua regia leach was envisaged with gold recovered from solution using charcoal [6]. The properties of several other chemicals for dissolving gold and silver were known in the late 1800s and early 1900s. These included bromine/bromide, cyanide, thiosulphate and thiourea solutions. It has also been reported that between 1900 and 1920 some ores containing arsenopyrite and/or gold tellurides were treated with bromide/cyanide solutions [2]. 1.1.5 Early pyrometallurgy From the time of the discovery of amalgamation gold-rich mercury was retorted for mercury removal, and the resulting sponge gold smelted with fluxes to produce gold bullion. Likewise gravity concentrates, which often contained magnetite, ilmenite, chromite and other heavy minerals, were smelted with potash, borax and nitre to remove the contaminants. Throughout the 19th century various high grade auriferous lead, silver and copper ores and concentrates were treated directly by pyrometallurgical methods. These included; (a) direct fusion in a bath of lead, (b) direct smelting with lead-rich fluxes, and (c) smelting with fluxes to produce a matte followed by re-smelting with lead-rich fluxes. These processes generated lead-gold-silver alloys, in a manne: the well known fire assay analytical technique. The product remove lead, leaving a precious metal alloy. The precious meta using one of four methods available at the time [5]: imilar in principle to were cupelled to S were separated (1) Nitric acid dissolution of silver to leave a gold residue. (2) Sulphurizing with either sulphur, pyrite or an antimony sulphide, sulphur and litharge mixture to produce silver sulphide and a gold/silver alloy. The alloy could be purified by nitric acid treatment. (3) Chlorination (Miller process) to remove silver as insoluble silver chloride, leaving gold as soluble gold chloride. (4) Electrolytic refining in a potassium cyanide bath. These processes were practised in Hungary, Germany and other areas of Eastern Europe.34 Historical developments [Ch. 1 In 1868 a combined roasting-smelting operation was started at Black Hawk (Colorado, USA) to treat pyritic eal are. The matte produced was shipped to Wales (UK) for refining. By 1876 a copper refining technique was developed in the USA to produce refined gold as a by-product to copper. This was the precursor to anode casting and electrorefining in the copper industry [2]. In parallel with the development of the Plattner chlorination process, roasting pretreatment was developed to oxidize concentrates, and occasionally ores, prior to leaching. Various types of roasters were employed at a number of operations, e.g. Treadwell (Alaska, USA), Amador, Bunker Hill and Eureka (California, USA), Gibbonsville (Montana, USA), Deloro (Canada) and Mount Morgan (Australia). 1.2. 100 YEARS OF CYANIDATION 1.2.1 The invention of cyanidation The solubility of gold in cyanide solutions was recognized as early as 1783 by Scheele (Sweden) and was studied in the 1840s and 1850s by Elkington and Bagration (Russia), Elsner (Germany) and Faraday (England). Elkington also held a patent for the use of potassium cyanide solutions for electroplating of gold and silver. The dissolution of gold in aerated cyanide solutions and the role of oxygen in the mechanism was investigated by Elsner in 1846 [7] and the reaction was reported [8] to proceed as follows: 2Au+4KCN+0+H,0=2AuK(CN))+2KOH (1.1) Elsner’s equation, which is now thought to apply directly to only a minor portion of gold during dissolution, is still quoted in present-day publications on gold leaching. The mechanism is now better understood and is considered in Section 6.1. In 1867, Rae (USA) patented a process for cyanide leaching of gold and silver ores, although this was never used [5,9]. The cyanidation process, as it is now known, was patented between 1887 and 1888 by McArthur and the Forrest brothers, and was rapidly developed into a commercial process, first at Crown Mine (New Zealand) in 1889 [2,8]. The technology spread rapidly and was used at Robinson Deep (South Africa) in 1890, Consolidated Mercur (Utah, USA) and Calumet (California, USA) in 1891, El] Oro (Mexico) in 1900 and La Belliere (France) in 1904. The development of cyanidation was very timely to. the exploitation of the Witwatersrand ores, which had lower grades than those previously worked and much of the gold occurred as fine grains in hard rock. The cyanidation process, incorporat- ing cementation with zinc, generally increased gold recoveries from about 70% to 95% and rescued a declining industry (see section 1.2.2). This is indicated by the increase in South African gold production from under 300000 ounces in 1888 to over 3 million ounces in 1989 [12]. The early Witwatersrand mines were a hotbed for technical developments, which revolutionized the gold mining industry. The widespread use of cyanidation led to a decline in the use of gravity concentration and the establishment of hydrometallurgy as a distinct subject within mineral and metal proc ig. Excellent texts on the South African gold metallurgical practice are available, published in 1949 [10], 1972 [11] and 1987 [12].Sec. 1.2] 100 years of cyanidation 35 1.2.2 Flowsheet development The flowsheets of the earliest gold plants on the Central Rand (South Africa) typically included screening, crushing, manual sorting of waste rock, stamp milling, amalgamation, cyanide leaching, solid/liquid separation and recovery of gold by n with zine. Closed-circuit grinding and classification was achieved using dewatering cones and rake classifiers. Comminution circuits further improved with the use of tube mills from 1904. Between 1904 and 1908 cyanidation plant equipment evolutionized by Dorr (USA) through his inventions of continuous, large-scale ation, filtration and thickening equipment. This technology, developed ally for the gold industry, was applied subsequently throughout the mining industry in general. At about the same time, Oliver (USA) developed the continuous vacuum filter, while air agitated Browns (New Zealand) and Pachuca (Mexico) tanks were introduced for the agitation of slurries. Air agitation in tall, narrow tanks is still used in some plants, although large, cost effective, mechanical agitators are now preferred. From 1890 to about 1918, sand and slime fractions from the milling circuits were treated separately. Subsequent improvements in filtration and fines handling equip- ment allowed so-called ‘all slimes’ plants to be introduced. By 1946, there were 53 large plants operating on the Witwatersrand of which 29 practised all-sliming and 24 operated sand and slime plants, with only 13% of the tonnage treated as sand. Slimes from the milling circuit were cyanide leached in air agitated tanks. The leached slurry was then filtered to produce a gold-bearing solution. This practice still forms the basis for many presently operating gold plants, and has only significantly changed following the introduction of the carbon-in-pulp (CIP) process in about 1980. By 1922 the practice of direct amalgamation of stamp mill product was replaced by the use of corduroy strakes, which preconcentrated the amalgamation feed and significantly reduced the amount of mercury that had to be used. This change was encouraged largely for health and security reasons, and led to many other advances in gravity concentration techniques within the grinding circuit, such as the use of jigs, Johnson drums and shaking tables for the recovery of coarse gold. During the late 1980s about 20% of South African gold was produced from gravity concentrates. The recovery of precious metal values from cyanide solutions received much attention throughout the development of cyanidation. Initial recovery methods included cementation using zinc shavings (McArthur process) and the electrolytic cell (Siemens-Halske and Tainton processes). The efficiency of the zinc precipitation process was increased by; (a) the use of zinc dust rather than zinc shavings in zinc boxes, (b) the introduction of de-aeration, and (c) the addition of small quantities of soluble lead salts to solutions prior to precipitation. Zinc precipitation, sometimes referred to as the Merrill-Crowe process, after the instigators of these improvements, is still widely used today and is described in section 8.1.36 Historical developments {ch.1 Between 1894 and 1899 the Siemens and Halske electrolytic process was developed and implemented on several plants, particularly for the treatment of dilute solutions produced from slime decantation. An iron anode and lead cathode were used in an open tank system. In 1915 Bosqui introduced an alternative electrolytic cell, invented by Tainton, which used a closed tank with an iron anode and a carbon sheet cathode. Although these cells were a technical success they were not economically viable. Even now, a commercial process for electrowinning of gold from dilute and impure run-of-mine leach solutions has not been achieved. Between 1910 and 1930 flotation was introduced for the treatment of base metal sulphide ores. This quickly led to flotation also being used for recovery of gold- bearing sulphides and free gold concentrates [13,14]. Early examples include Empire mine (California, USA), Mount Morgan (Queensland, Australia) and Le Roi (British Columbia, Canada). Flotation was used in South Africa in 1935, where the Brakpan and Government Mining Areas plants (South Africa) were modified to include flotation of a sand fraction, to yield a sulphide-rich concentrate. This was then re-ground and leached by cyanidation. The flotation tailings were also leached, with only a short residence time required. This route produced marginally higher gold recoveries at significantly lower cost, which enabled lower grade sulphide ores to be treated economically. 1.2.3 Activated carbon The adsorption of precious metal ions or complexes from aqueous solutions onto activated carbon was first noted in the early 19th century. In the 1890s activated carbon was considered as a possible alternative to zinc cementation for the Witwa- tersrand gold plants. However, at that time, the only known way of recovering the gold was by combustion of the carbon and smelting of the resulting ash. The inability to re-use the carbon, coupled with advances in zinc cementation technology, made the process uncompetitive. The first carbon-in-pulp (CIP) plant to use granular carbon was probably the 250 tonnes per day (tpd) San Andreas de Copan plant (Honduras) in 1949. The loaded carbon was sold to a smelter. In 1950 the Getchell Mine in northern Nevada (USA) operated a 500 tpd CIP plant and a patent was granted to McQuiston in 1951 for a CIP technique [8]. At this time much important work was done at the United States Bureau of Mines (USBM), notably by Zadra, Salisbury and Ross, to devise a process for gold recovery from carbon, which would then allow the carbon to be re-used. The gold removal process, called elution, desorbed gold values to produce a concentrated gold solution from which gold could be recovered by electrowinning onto steel wool cathodes. Initially the USBM used a caustic sodium sulphide solution for elution, but this method did not remove silver from the carbon. However, this led to the successful development of the Zadra atmospheric pressure stripping process, using sodium cyanide and sodium hydroxide, which was immediately installed at the San Andreas and Getchell mines. These circuits operated until the plants shut down in the late 1950s and early 1960s, respectively. Activated carbon was used commercially in 1952 at the Carlton mine, Cripple Creek (Colorado, USA), which operated until 1961 when the plant closed largelySec. 1.2] 100 years of cyanidation 37 due to the low fixed gold price of $35/oz. An important feature of the Carlton flowsheet was the use of a reactivation kiln for carbon regeneration. The combi- nation of efficient carbon regeneration and elution made carbon adsorption methods more competitive with the Merrill-Crowe process, and was an important precursor to the widespread development of CIP in the 1980s (see section 1.3.1). 1.2.4 A changing economic climate The United States Government set an official gold selling price of $35/oz in January 1934. From 1950 to 1972 the gold mining industry suffered severely under this limitation as production costs increased worldwide with inflation, and consequently profitability decreased. This depressed the gold industry and resulted in limited exploration, little research and development and the start-up of very few new mines. During this time the major proportion of gold and silver was produced as a by- product of copper and lead processing. In the late 1960s the Homestake mine (USA) produced 30% of US annual production. The Carlin mine in Nevada (USA) opened in 1965 and was the first large gold mine to be commissioned in 50 years. In December 1971 and again in September 1973 the US dollar was devalued, effectively increasing the gold price to $38/0z and then $47/oz, respectively. These devaluations, the end of official dollar-gold conver- sion and turbulent political events (e.g. 1973 oil price shock) led to dramatically increased prices during the mid to late 1970s (Fig. 1.5), reaching a peak of $850/oz at 2000 800 [2 Production > Price + 700 1500 ++ 1000 + + 300 Price USS/oz MOD 500 + a 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 Year Fig. 1.5 — Gold prices and western world production.38 Historical developments [Ch. 1 one point in 1980. These economic conditions greatly improved profitability, and increased exploration and production efforts worldwide. 1.3 1972-1990: ERA OF TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT The favourable economic climate for gold, particularly during the late 1970s, led to an almost universal interest of mining companies in precious metals, resulting in a boom in exploration and the rapid development of gold mines on all continents, ranging from small scale prospecting to multi-million ounce per year producers. For example, Australian gold production reached an all time low of 502.000 ounces of Au in 1976 [15], but then increased tenfold to 5 million ounces in 1989. The distribution of production by country is shown in Fig. 1.6. Ussegel South Africa 30% 4 Philippines 2% USA 12% po PNG 2% ] Yi China 5% fr hina 5% Brazil 6% Canada 10% Australia 8% Other 10% Fig. 1.6 — 1990 gold mine production distribution by country. Although much good research, development and industrial application of new technology (notably heap leaching) occurred during the 1970s, the decade of the 1980s has produced more technical developments in gold extraction than any other period since the development of cyanidation. The major chemical process techno- logy accepted into the industry includes CIP (and CIL) processing, heap and dump leaching of low grade ores, electrowinning and replating, pressure oxidation of sulphides and intensive cyanidation Other processes such as biological oxidation and resin-in-pulp (RIP) have been demonstrated at pilot or small industrial scale. A large number of techniques have shown promise in the laboratory including pressure leaching with various oxidants, alternative gold leaching systems, nitric acid oxidation and coal gold agglomeration.Sec. 1.3] 1972-1990: era of technical development 39 In addition there have been many advances in important ancillary processes, for example: (1) carbon regeneration, (2) CIP interstage screening, (3) electrowinning cell design, (4) autoclave materials and reactor design, (5) roasting equipment, (6) process control. This development in industrial chemistry and technology has played an important role in the boom in gold extraction during the 1980s, and will provide the competition for emerging technology in the future. 1.3.1 The CIP revolution Initial work on the development of the CIP process took place in the 1970s (section 1.2.3); however, this technology came of age in the 1980s. The precursor to the CIP revolution in the 1980s was the successful operation of Homestake’s Lead gold mine (South Dakota), which replaced its conventional cyanidation slime treatment plant with CIP in 1973. In the mid-1970s, Mintek and the Anglo American Research Laboratory (AARL) in South Africa performed significant research and devel- opment programmes to improve the CIP process, and to adapt it to South African ores. As part of this work, Davidson patented the AARL carbon elution process in 1973, which has become a popular elution method. A small (90000 tpa) plant was installed at Modderfontein in 1978 and in 1980 three larger plants were installed at President Brand (to treat calcine), Randfontein Estates and Western Areas. Between 1981 and 1984 eleven major (>I Mtpa) CIP and CIL plants were commissioned in South Africa, alone, with many others in the USA and Australia, blishing activated carbon gold recovery systems as the first choice process route. The first CIP plant in Australia was commissioned at Kambalda in 1981. Other early Australian uses of CIP were at Norseman and Haveluck. As the application of the CIP process gained momentum a number of associated technological developments took place; for example, carbon manufacturers devel- oped improved carbons with suitable activity and abrasion resistance for use in gold ore slurries and various interstage screens were developed (e.g. EPAC, Kambalda, Derrick, NKM). Methods and equipment for on-site reactivation of carbon were improved throughout the 1980s, with continued controversy over the choice of reactivation kilns and stripping methods. 1.3.2. Heap leaching Heap leaching was developed by Heinen, Lindstrom and others at the USBM during the late 1960s and early 1970s, as a low cost treatment method for low grade ores in Nevada. The first large scale heap leach operation was installed at Carlin in 1970 and treated ores with grades below the conventional mill cut-off. Heap leaching was subsequently installed at Cortez and Smoky Valley (Nevada, USA) in the late 1970s,40 Historical developments [Ch.1 and thereafter heap leaching boomed in Nevada and the western USA. At this time an agglomeration process was developed, also at USBM, to allow the treatment of high clay content ores which would otherwise adversely affect leach pad permeabi- lity. Agglomeration was achieved by mixing the ore with lime and/or cement and water in an agglomeration drum, or by conveyor handling in the crusher plant ore stacking system. Heap leaching took advantage of the concurrent development of carbon adsorp- tion processes by using carbon-in-columns for gold recovery from solution, followed by electrowinning. Some plants still prefer to use zinc precipitation in the case of high silver concentrations or when the cost of a carbon stripping/reactivation circuit cannot be justified. The success of heap leaching was related to the suitability of the Nevada climate, the hydrothermal breccia-type ores (with gold mineralization along cracks and fissures, accessible to solution), the development of agglomeration and innovative operators. Gold recoveries of 50-80% were achieved at much lower capital and operating costs than those of milling/CIP plants. In addition, plant start-up times were extremely short, which led to the application of heap leaching to generate revenue early in new projects to help fund construction of the main processing and/or mining operations. In 1986, 30% of US gold production resulted from heap leaching, with operations ranging in size from 1-10000 tpd. The use of very large scale heap leaching is maturing (Table 1.1) with improvements in earth moving equipment, liner designs, stacker designs and agglomeration procedures. The largest operation in Nevada in 1990 was at Round Mountain which treated aproximately 40000 tpd. 1.3.3 Refractory ores During the 1970s and 1980s major efforts were directed at the treatment of so-called refractory ores, i.e. ores which could not be effectively treated by simple cyanidation (see Chapters 2 and 5). Historically, severely refractory ores and concentrates, whether sulphidic, carbonaceous, telluride or a combination of these, have been roasted to completely oxidize the refractory portion of the ore and render the contained gold leachable. Examples of some of the established roasting operations are Fairview (South Africa), La Belliere (France), Getchell (USA, Nevada), Mount Morgan (Australia), Campbell Red Lake and Giant Yellowknife (Canada). In 1971, Carlin successfully treated carbonaceous ore by chlorination, followed by cyanidation and zinc precipitation (later replaced by CIP). In 1977 the process was altered to a double oxidation circuit by incorporating a pre-aeration stage ahead of chlorination. This process was later used at Jerritt Canyon, but was subsequently discontinued at both locations in favour of the original simple chlorination process, due to rising costs. Pressure oxidation of sulphide minerals has been practised for many years in the nickel and copper industries, and was investigated for the treatment of gold-bearing sulphides in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, a non-acidic pressure oxidation was commissioned at McLaughlin (USA) to treat a pyritic ore. This was followed in 1986 bya similar scheme to treat arsenopyritic flotation at Sao Bento (Brazil) and in 1988. non-acidic oxidation circuit was started up at Mercur (USA). In the latter case, non-Sec. 1.3] 1972-1990: era of technical development 41 Table 1.1 — Chronology of events in gold extraction chemistry Date Event Be 1000 Discovery of amalgamation of gold with mercury 750 Aqua regia dissolution of gold established (Jabir bin Hayyan) 500 Alloying of gold and silver discovered AD 1300 id parting of gold and silver developed (Magnus) 1704 Prussian blue discovered (Dippel and Diesbach) 1783 Dissolution of gold by aqueous 'stablished (Scheele) 1790 Gold adsorption by charcoal discovered (Lowitz) 1802 Sulphuric acid parting of gold/silver (d’Arcet) 1840 Electroplating from cyanide solutions (Elkington) i844 Studies of gold cyanidation (Bagration) 1846 Role of oxygen in cyanidation studied (Elsner) i848. Chlorination and ferrous sulphate recovery process for gold developed (Plattner) 1856 Faraday develops on Elsner’s work 1858 First commercial use of Plattner process, on Deetken ore (Grass valley, California, USA) 1863 Plattner process widely used in USA, South Africa and Australia 1867 Patent for cyanide leaching (Rac), not used 1869 Charcoal proposed for gold precipitation (Percy) 1880 Patent on gold recovery from chlorinated solutions using charcoal (Davis) and its commer- cial use in Carolina (USA) 1886 Gold disovered on Witwatersrand (Harrison) 1887 MacArthur, Forrest brothers patent cyanidation for gold and silver dissolution 1888 MacArthur, Forrest brothers patent precipitation with zinc shavings 1889 First cyanidation plant, Crown Mine (New Zealand) 1890 First cyanidation plant in South Africa, Robinson Deep 1891 (A) First cyanidation plant in USA, Mercur (Utah) (B) Charcoal adsorption process (Davis) used at Mount Morgan (Australia) on chlorinated solutions 1894 (A) Patent on charcoal adsorption from cyanide solutions Johnson) (B)_ Siemens-Halske proce: (Transvaal, South Africa) 1896 Mechanism of cyanidation leaching involving hydrogen peroxide proposed (Bodlander) 1898 Caldecott used air agitated leach tanks 1904-08 (A) Dorr invented and implemented new classifies (B) Oliver developed continuous vacuum filter for clectrolytic recovery of gold applied at Worcester works . thickener and agitator in USA 1904 Merrill introduced zine dust for gold precipitation 1906 Vacuum de-aeration applied to zinc precipitation (Crowe) 1908 ccipitation of silver at Deloro (Mexico) 1916 zinc for precipitation at Youanmi (Western Australia) 1934 led activated carbon proposed (Chapman and Endquist), patented by Chapman (1939) 1947 Gold dissolution explained as corrosion process (Thompson) 1949 First CIP plant at San Andreas (Honduras) 1951 USBM develops carbon (alkaline sulphide) stripping process, 1951 McQuiston and Chapman patent CIP pro Improved carbon elution process and electrowinning (Zadra, USBM) Carlton Mill (USA) uses CIP with carbon reactivation Early work on heap leaching (Heinen and Lindstom) First heap leach operation (Carlin, Nevada, USA) (A) Chlorination of carbonaceous ore at Carlin (USA) (B) Reverse leach used at West Driefontein (South Africa) for ui 1973 (A) Large CIP plant installed at Homestake-Lead (USA) (B) Anglo American (AARL) elution process developed (Davidson) jum and gold recovery42 Historical developments [Ch. 1 Table 1.1 — Continued Date Event 1975 Work on CIP for South African ores started by Mintek 1976 Alcohol carbon stripping developed at USBM 1977 Double oxidation process adopted at Carlin 1978 First South African CIP plant (Modderfontein) 1979 (A) Agglomeration process for heap leaching of clay ores (Heinen, McClelland and Lindstrom) (B) Patent for pre-aeration and chlorination (Guay) 1980-4 Large scale tailings retreatment plants using CIP built in South Africa (Rand Mines Mining and Milling, Simmergo, Ergo, JMS-OFS) 1985 First (acidic) pressure oxidation plant commissioned at Homestake-McLaughlin 1986 (A) Sao Bento (Brazil) pressure oxidation plant (B) Fairview concentrate bio-oxidation plant start-up 1985 First (non-acidic) pressure oxidation plant for gold ore (Mercur, USA) 1990 (A) Tonkin Springs bio-oxidation plant for whole ore treatment started up (B) Big Springs, Jerritt Canyon and Cortez roaster to treat whole ore commissioned 1991 Sao Bento biological oxidation preceding pressure oxidation commissioned acidic conditions wre required because of the high carbonate content of the ore. These plants have established pressure oxidation as a viable, albeit high cost, method for treating a range of refractory ores. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s researchers at Cardiff University (Wales), University of British Columbia (Canada), University of New Mexico and Gencor (South Africa), amongst others, worked on the development of bacterial oxidation for sulphide refractory gold ores. In 1986 a 10 tpd plant was commissioned at Fairview (South Africa) to treat flotation concentrates and has since been operating successfully. In 1990 a 1500 tpd whole-ore bio-oxidation plant was started up at Tonkin Springs (Nevada, USA), though operation ceased due to financial problems and hence the whole-ore process is not yet conclusively proven at this scale. A bio- oxidation process to partially oxidize flotation concentrates prior to pressure oxi- dation to increase plant throughput was commissioned at Sao Bento (Brazil) in 1991. The motivation for the continued development of bio-oxidation processes is the potential cost savings over pressure oxidation and the considerable environmental advantages over roasting. Significant improvements in gas scrubbing/cleaning technology were made in the USA which brought low cost roasting back into favour in the late 1980s. Roasters were commissioned at Big Springs, Cortez and Jerritt Canyon between 1988 and 1990 to treat whole ores, rather than concentrates. The continued development of refractory ore projects has encouraged renewed interest in lixiviants for gold that could ve used in acidic media to avoid the high neutralization costs required by alkaline cyanidation of oxidized products. No clearly successful process has yet emerged. 1.4 TOWARDS THE 21ST CENTURY Metallurgical research and development work has been prolific in the 1980s with many process alternatives and improvements either proposed or implemented. TheCh. 1] References 43 main driving forces for this to continue in the future are the need to treat lower grade ores with more complex mineralogy coupled with the increasing environmental requirements placed on mining operations. Specific areas likely to receive wide- spread attention are: (1) Commercial bio-oxidation processes for sulphidic gold ores. (2) Improved hydrometallurgical treatment of sulphidic ores. (3) Replacement of CIP by RIP. (4) Gold recovery from secondary sources. (5) Improved control of effluents. (6) Direct selective electrowinning from dilute solutions. (7) Alternative gold leaching reagents. (8) Effective processing in arid and cold environments. (9) Innovative use of flotation in flowsheets. (10) Reagent and metals recovery from effluent streams. (11) Alternative methods for upgrading gravity concentrates. (12) Improved process analysis and control. These technical areas, and no doubt there are many more, are considered later in detail and will provide new challenges to scientists and engineers in the future. REFERENCES [1] Collender, F. D. (1988) The historical importance of gold in the World’s monetary systems, Proc. Perth '88 Conf., Randol International Ltd., Golden, CO, USA, pp. 383-386. [2] McNulty, T. (1989) A Merallurgical History of Gold, Am. Min. Cong., Sept. 20th, 1989, San Francisco. [3] Agricola, G. (1556) De Re Metallica; Basle, H. C. & Hoover, C. L., Mining Mag. (1912) 637. [4] Temple, J. (1972) Mining and International History, Ernest Benn, London, pp. 143. [5] Schnabel, C. (1921) Handbook of Metallurgy, Vol. 1, 3rd edn, Macmillan, London, pp. 936-1134. | Anon. (1891) A new process for gold extraction, Min J., Feb. [7] Elsner, L. (1846) German J. Prac. Chem. | Shoemaker, R. S. (1984) Gold: Quid non mortalia pectora cogis, auri sacra fames, in Precious Metals: Mining, Extraction and Processing, Ed. Kudryk, V., Corrigan, D. A., & Liang, W. W., SME-AIME 4-10. [9] Habashi, F. (1987) One hundred years of cyanidation, C.J.M. Bull. 80 (905) 108-114. [10] King, A. (1949) Gold Metallurgy on the Witwatersrand, Transvaal Chamber of Mines, Johannesburg, pp. 458. [11] Adamson, R. J. (Ed.) (1972) Gold Metallurgy in South Africa, Johannesburg, Chamber of Mines of South Africa, pp. 452.44 Historical developments [Ch. 1 [12] Stanley, G. G. (1987) The Extractive Metallurgy of Gold in South Africa, S. Afr. Inst. Min. Metall., Monograph M7, pp. 1132. [13] Motherwell, W. (1914) Flotation test at Mount Morgan, Min. Sci. Press, No. 53140. [14] Fahrenwald, A. W. (1933) Flotation of gold from river sand and black sand, Min. J. (Phoenix, Arizona) 16 (23). [15] Thomas, P. R. & Boyle, E. H. (1986) Gold availability (World) A minerals availability appraisal, US Bureau of Mines, 1C9070 pp. 87.