EXTRACTIVE METALLURGY OF GOLD

1. Historical Introduction

Fathi Habashi
Laval University, Quebec City, Canada
Fathi.Habashi@arul.ulaval.ca

Gold has a special place among metals

 It is the oldest metal exploited by man

 It plays an important role in world economics
 It caused wars and unprecedented mass migrations
 It was responsible for creating many large cities
 It is highly prized
 It has been the inspiration of numerous myths
 It was the ultimate goal of alchemists
 It is stored in the vaults of banks
 It is widely on display in oriental bazaars
 It is generously used in decorating religious buildings.

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 That is why prospectors and
adventurers rush to the scene
as soon as news of a gold
discovery are rumoured.

GOLD
 Firstexploited by the ancient Egyptians
 The basis of currency
 Mass migrations to USA, Canada,
Australia, etc.
 San Francisco, Johannesburg, Sydney,
Denver, etc.
 An ounce costs $ 1800

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 The Golden Fleece
 The alchemists’ transmutation of metals

In Banks

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Oriental
bazaar

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Gold in ancient world

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Melting of gold

Beating of gold

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 Gold
foil

Gold and the alchemists

• Gold occurred in nature in the native state and simple

panning was enough to collect the glittering particles,
and sometimes nuggets, which could readily be melted
to obtain an ingot.
• However, since this required great patience and hard
work, the alchemists thought of a faster way:
transmutation of base metals into gold.
• When an alchemist dipped a piece of iron into a solution
of copper vitriol, i.e., copper sulfate, the iron was
immediately covered by a layer of metallic copper.
• This apparent transmutation of iron into copper is
represented in modern terms by the equation:
Cu2+ + Fe  Cu + Fe2+

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 How can the transmutation of iron
or copper into gold be effected?
• Gold, the most noble of all metals, was
insoluble in all acids and alkalies known at
that time.

Aqua Regia
• It was the Arab alchemist
Jabir Ibn Hayyan (720-813
AD) who discovered that
a mixture of hydrochloric
and nitric acids can
dissolve the noble metal,
neither of which alone
can attack gold.
• In modern terms the
action of the mixture is
due to chlorine and
nitrosyl chloride:
3HCl + HNO3  Cl2
+ NOCl + 2H2O

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 Amalgamation process
Ore
Water

Grinding
in Arrastres

NaCl + CuSO4

Mixing in Patio

Mercury

Amalgamation
in Patio

Water

Washing
Gangue slurry
in Lavaderos

Mercury + Amalgam

Squeezing
through canvas

Amalgam

Mercury
Storage Distillation

Melting & Casting

Ingots

• Mercury had the importance of

petroleum today because of its use
to extract gold and silver.
• Gold and silver were used for
jewllery but also for minting coins
needed by the ruler.

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The arrastra

Mixing in patio

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Retorting

Stamp mill

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Amalgamation table

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 Plattner process

• Chlorine water or
bleaching powder
acidified with dilute
sulfuric acid were used
as early as 1848 to
leach gold from its ores;
the process was known
as the Plattner Process
after its inventor.
• In this process, a
solution of AuCl3 was
obtained, from which
gold was precipitated
by ferrous sulfate or
activated charcoal.

Patera process

• The Patera Process, was also

used at about the same time
especially for silver ores.
• The ore was roasted with
sodium chloride to convert
silver to silver chloride, and was
then leached with water to
remove base-metal chlorides.
• Sodium thiosulfate solution,
Na2S2O3, was then applied to
dissolve silver chloride in a way
similar to its use in developing a
photographic film.

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