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Evaluation of leaching parameters for a refractory gold ore containing

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DOI: 10.1016/j.mineng.2009.02.003

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 Minerals Engineering 22 (2009) 799–808

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Minerals Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mineng

Evaluation of leaching parameters for a refractory gold ore containing

aurostibite and antimony minerals: Part I – Central zone
G. Deschênes a,*, C. Xia a, M. Fulton a, Louis J. Cabri b,1, J. Price a
a
CANMET Mining and Mineral Sciences Laboratories, Natural Resources, 555 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0G1
b
Cabri Consulting Inc., 122-99 Fifth Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 5P5

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A cyanidation study was conducted on a mild refractory gold ore sample from the Central zone of Clar-
Received 6 October 2008 ence Stream Property, owned by Freewest Resources Canada, to develop a leaching strategy to extract
Accepted 7 February 2009 gold. Gold, at a grade of 8.00 g/t, is present as native gold, electrum and aurostibite. The ore also contains
Available online 9 March 2009
2.8% pyrrhotite, together with several antimony minerals (0.8% berthierite and gudmundite, 0.18% native
antimony and stibnite). It also exhibits weak preg-robbing properties with 0.16% organic carbon. Aurosti-
Keywords: bite, a gold antimony compound, is particularly known to be insoluble in cyanide solution. The antimony
Gold
dissolves in cyanide solution to form antimonates, which retards gold dissolution. Industrial practice of
Aurostibite
Stibnite
extracting gold from aurostibite generally consists of producing a flotation concentrate, which is leached
Lead nitrate in a pipe reactor at low alkalinity and high oxygen pressure with about 20 g/L cyanide.
Sulphide The proposed new approach is efficient and allows the extraction of gold directly from an ore at atmo-
Freewest spheric pressure and a low cyanide concentration at pH 10.5. The effects of grinding, pre-treatment, lead
Cyanide nitrate, kerosene and cyanide concentrations have been investigated. The maximum gold extraction
Hydroseparation obtained on the ore was 87.9% using 800 ppm NaCN, 500 g/t lead nitrate, 30 g/t kerosene, DO (dissolved
oxygen) 10 ppm and pH 10.5 in 168 h. The associated cyanide consumption was 1.3 kg/t. The additions of
lead nitrate and kerosene increased gold extraction. In comparison to a P80 of 74 lm, a P80 of 30 lm sig-
nificantly increased gold extraction. Gold in solid solution in gudmundite and arsenopyrite was believed
to be responsible for the un-leached fraction until mineralogical analysis of hydroseparation concentrates
of leach residues showed that most of the un-leached gold occurs as aurostibite, either as locked grains in
sulphides/sulpharsenides or as grains with passivation rims of an Au–Sb–O phase. Coarse gold was also
found. Gold extraction was not sensitive to cyanide concentration from 250 to 1200 ppm NaCN and high
pH was detrimental. Decreasing the cyanide concentration reduced the cyanide consumption from 1.39
to 0.85 kg/t. The removal of coarse gold using a Knelson concentrator and a Mosley table prior to leaching
increased the gold extraction to 90.4% (leach residue at 0.77 g/t).
Crown Copyright Ó 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Mineral Resource of 540,000 tonnes at a grade of 6.58 g/t gold

Freewest Resource Canada Inc., own 100% of the Clarence
Stream project, a gold property located in New Brunswick. The
property is located in southwestern New Brunswick, 70 km south-
west of the City of Fredericton. Exploration efforts by Freewest
have been successful in identifying two deposit clusters containing
10 gold occurrences. The clusters known as the Proximal and Distal
groups of deposits contain 43–101 compliant Mineral Resources
comprising an Indicated Mineral Resource of 648,000 tonnes at a
grade of 7.30 g/t gold (152,000 ounces of gold) and an Inferred
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 613 992 1376; fax: +1 613 947 1200.
E-mail addresses: gdeschen@nrcan.gc.ca (G. Deschênes), cxia@nrcan.gc.ca (C.
Xia), mfulton@nrcan.gc.ca (M. Fulton), lcabri@sympatico.ca (L.J. Cabri), jprice@
nrcan.gc.ca (J. Price).
1
Tel./fax: +1 613 235 3389.
(115,000 ounces of gold). The most prominent of the Proximal
deposits, is the Central zone that contains an Indicated Mineral Re-
source of 347,904 tonnes at a grade of 7.42 g/ton gold, yielding
83,000 ounces of gold. Freewest commissioned Roscoe, Postle
Associates, geological and mining consultants based in Toronto,
to complete an independent scoping study on the Central and
AD-MW Zones in 2003. The study concluded that there is potential
for commercial production by open pit methods, if the current gold
resource can be expanded to a threshold of 400,000 ounces from
current levels at similar grades.
Previous work by Mintek on a Central zone sample indicated
that only 53% of the gold is accessible to direct cyanidation (Maha-
raj, 2006). Mineralogical characterization by Cabri (2002) of two
samples from the Central zone indicated that 54% and 56% of
the gold occurred as aurostibite, 44% and 46% as electrum and na-
tive gold, and that a minor fraction of the gold is included in the

0892-6875/$ - see front matter Crown Copyright Ó 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.mineng.2009.02.003
800 G. Deschênes et al. / Minerals Engineering 22 (2009) 799–808

gangue (3%). Cyanicides identified in that study were pyrrhotite Table 2

(2.8% and 2.9%), berthierite and gudmundite (1.5% and 2.8%), pyrite Chemical analyses of the Central zone sample.

(0.1% and 0.5%), native antimony and stibnite (0.1% and 0.6%). Be- Element Grade (%W)
cause aurostibite converts to AuSbO3 in alkaline solution and does Au 8.00 g/t
not dissolve the commercial treatment of a gold ore containing Si 28.6
aurostibite is flotation to produce a concentrate, which is subse- Al 6.03
quently pretreated in aqueous solution with lead nitrate and lea- Fe 4.39
Ca 2.73
ched in a pipe reactor at 9 MPa oxygen, pH 7 and 20 g/L NaCN Mg 1.37
(Adams, 2005). Sb 0.66
Following a preliminary assessment by Mintek that indicated As 0.56
that only 53% of gold could be recovered by direct cyanidation, a Corganic 0.16
S 1.45
contract was allocated to CANMET/MMSL to increase gold extrac-
Zn 0.0032
tion using cyanidation under normal conditions (Deschênes, Pb 0.0086
2006a). This report presents the results of this investigation. Cu 0.007
Ni 0.005
Co 0.002
2. Reagents, equipment and experimental procedure
Bi <0.0006
Te <0.003
2.1. Materials

The Central zone sample (38 kg) was received on August 30,
produce representative ‘‘heavy-mineral concentrates” of particles
2006. The sample was separated in two parts using a riffler. One
in a carefully controlled upward pulsating water flow. Recent re-
lot was stored in a double plastic bag. The second lot was screened
ports on the technology applied to gold ores (Cabri et al., 2005)
at 150 lm, the oversize was ground to P90 of 150 lm, mixed with
used a CNT HS-02M model hydroseparator, which is manually
the undersize, homogenized in a drum tumbler and ground to P80
operated. The present work was done using the newer computer-
of 74 lm (starting grind recommanded by client and consultant),
controlled CNT HS-11 (www.cnt-mc.com).
which is considered the right grind for liberation of most of the free
milling gold. A representative sample was taken and analyzed for
2.3. Cyanidation
gold in triplicate. The gold content of the head is 8.00 g/t. The aver-
age calculated gold content of the overall sample (obtained from all
The quick lime Ca(OH)2, sodium cyanide, lead nitrate and oxy-
the tests) is 7.94 g/t with a variance of 0.21. The head sample
gen were all certified reagent grade chemicals. Deionized water
was submitted for chemical, mineralogical and wet screen analyses
was used. The gold-leaching reactor used is a jacketed cell made
(Tables 1–3).
of glass, with a capacity of 2 L. The set-up and the experimental
The sample has a significant amount of pyrrhotite (2.8%), metal-
procedures were described earlier (Deschênes and Fulton, 2002a).
lic antimony and stibnite (0.18%), some berthierite and gudmun-
For most of the tests, the temperature was maintained at 20 °C.
dite (0.8%), and a small amount of pyrite (0.2%). Characterization
The pulp density was adjusted to 45% solids. Quick lime was added
of gold in two samples had previously indicated the presence of na-
to raise the pH to the desired value and the pH of the pulp was
tive gold and electrum (44% and 46%), as well as a significant
readjusted after 0.5, 1.0, 3.0 and 6.0 h of pre-treatment. In the case
amount of aurostibite (AuSb2) at 54% and 56% (Cabri, 2002). Gud-
where lead nitrate was added during pre-treatment, it was intro-
mundite and arsenopyrite are minor gold carriers (Cabri, 2002).
duced immediately after the addition of time. No filtering was
The samples were ground in 3 kg parts at 65% solids in a rod
done after this stage and the cyanidation used the same pulp.
mill, which has a grinding chamber of 18  30.3 cm and rotates
Pre-leaching, when applied, continued for up to 16 h. The oxygen
at 60 rpm. The rod charge was 3 kg. The grinding time varied from
concentration was controlled by adjusting the ratio between air
70 to 75 min for the different samples. For control purposes, the
and oxygen in the mixture sparged into the slurry and monitored
grind size of each lot was determined with a Microtrac X100 Parti-
by an Oxi 340 oxygen meter.
cle Analyzer. The parts were pulped and split with a rotary separa-
tor, stored at 5 °C in glass jars with a Teflon lid.

2.2. Hydroseparation and SEM study

Table 3
Mineralogical analyses of the Central zone sample.
After achieving maximum gold dissolution from a series of tests,
it was decided to examine two leach residues by making hydrosep- Minerals Grade (Wt%)
aration concentrates and studying them by scanning electron Quartz 41.0
microscopy (SEM). A novel laboratory technique called ‘‘hydrosep- Feldspar 32.5
aration” (HS) has recently been developed in Russia (Rudashevsky Tremolite 9.2
Arsenopyrite 1.5
et al., 2002) to process solid water-insoluble powdered samples to
Chlinoclore 5.6
Anorthite 3.6
Pyrrhotite 2.8
Table 1 Berthierite/gudmundite 0.8
Size distribution of the Central zone sample. Sphene 0.9
Calcite 0.8
Size (lm) Retained (%) Cumulative (%)
Anorthoclase 0.3
+150 0.1 0.1 Pyrite 0.2
150 + 75 18.7 18.8 Antimony/stibnite 0.18
75 + 53 24.0 42.8 Ilmenite 0.1
53 + 45 2.9 45.7 Magnetite <0.1
45 + 38 4.9 50.6 Apatite 0.1
38 49.3 100 Sphalerite 0.1
 G. Deschênes et al. / Minerals Engineering 22 (2009) 799–808 801

The duration of cyanidation tests varied from 96 to 120 h. The
pH and cyanide concentration were adjusted after 1.0, 2, 4, 6, 24,
30, 48 h and every 24 h until the end of leaching. A 15 mL sample
of the pregnant solution was taken by pipette at the control points
and assayed for gold and silver content. The solids taken out during
sampling were returned to the reactor after the pregnant solution
was filtered out.
At the end of each test, the pulp was filtered and the filter cake
was washed with 1000 mL of water. The filter cake was dried,
homogenized, sampled and analyzed for gold by fire assay. The final
pregnant solutions were also analyzed for free CN, Fe, Cu and CNS,
SO2
4 and Sb. The gold content of the liquid samples was determined
by fire assay with an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry finish.
Fe and Cu were analyzed by ICP-AES (Inductively coupled plasma
atomic emission spectrometry). CNS was determined by gradient
elution HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography).
Carbon-In-Leach experiment was performed by adding acti-
vated carbon (Haycarb) to the slurry at the start of the test. The
carbon was previously conditioned according to the following
method. Approximately 500 g carbon and 100 ml distilled water
was mixed in two separate 1 L glass jars. A Fisher Kendall side
arm mixer was used. Total wash time was 3 h. After completion
of the wash the carbon was poured over a 840 lm screen and fur-
ther washed with distilled water to remove any fines. A sample
was taken for moisture determination (41.3%). The activated car-
bon was sealed in a plastic bag and stored in an airtight glass jar.
A special stirrer with a large blade was used in carbon-in-leach
experiment to achieve a satisfactory agitation at 250 rpm. After
the leaching test, the loaded carbon was collected by sieving, dried
in oven and assayed for gold values.
Gold fire assay of leach residues and loaded carbon were per-
formed in triplicate. The gold extraction was based on the metal
content values of the processed tails and the direct sample head as-
say. To determine the mass balance in each experiment, the gold
content of the calculated head sample was obtained by adding
the gold content values of the tails, the liquid samples, the preg-
nant solution and the wash solution. Gold concentration in the
solution was used to plot the extraction kinetic curves.

80

70

60
Au extraction (%)

50

40 Pb(NO3)2 NaCN Tail

(g/t) (kg/t) (g/t)
30 0 0.87 2.28
250 0.99 2.04
20

10

0
0 24 48 72 96
Time (h)

Fig. 1. Effect of lead nitrate on cyanidation of the ore from Freewest Central zone. Cyanidation: P80 of 74 lm, 10 ppm DO, 21 °C, 800 ppm NaCN.

80

70

60
Au Extraction (%)

50

40

30
pH/Lime Pb(NO3)2 DO NaCN Tail
(ppm) (g/t) (ppm) (kg/t) (g/t)
20
10.5 250 10 0.99 2.04
10 700 250 10 1.06 2.50

0
0 12 24 36 48 60 72 84 96
Time (h)

Fig. 2. Effect of high alkalinity on cyanidation of the ore from Freewest Central zone. Cyanidation: P80 of 74 lm, 10 ppm DO, 21 °C, 800 ppm NaCN.
802 G. Deschênes et al. / Minerals Engineering 22 (2009) 799–808

Free cyanide was determined by titration with silver nitrate
using rhodamine as an indicator. For the free cyanide concentra-
tion, the controlled value was a time weighted average obtained
by the summation of the average content values (Ci) within the
sampling interval multiplied by the length of sampling interval
(ti) divided by the total time (t), i.e. the free cyanide concentra-
P
tion ¼ ð ðC i  ti Þ=tÞ. The variation of the realized average free cya-
nide concentration relative to the target free cyanide concentration
was within ±10% in this investigation. Free cyanide was also deter-
mined for the final leach and wash solutions. The calculation of cya-
nide consumption assumes 100% recycling of the leach solution.
2.4. Preg-robbing test
The preg-robbing study was conducted to determine the capac-
ity of gold preg-robbing. One lot of Freewest ore was divided into
four homogenous parts. Each part was agitated with a cyanide
solution containing a known amount of dissolved gold. The pulp
density was 45%. The test conditions were: 1 g/L NaCN, 8–9 ppm
DO, pH 10–11, 21 °C. The leaching conditions were monitored
and maintained at 0.5, 2, 6 and 24 h. The solution gold value was
assayed and used to build a ‘‘preg-robbing” curve, which was used
as an indicator of the degree of preg-robbing (Goodall et al., 2005).
3. Results and discussion
The initial response of the ore to direct cyanidation is surpris-
ing, considering that 56% of the gold is in the form of aurostibite
and that Mintek investigation indicated that only 53% of the gold is
available to direct cyanidation, an additional 7% Au can be ex-
tracted using Carbon-In-Leach and 20% Au were included in sul-
phide minerals (Maharaj, 2006). Fig. 1 shows that a minimum of
71% gold was dissolved in a cyanide solution. Consequently, a frac-
tion of the aurostibite was dissolved. Increasing the lead nitrate
addition from 0 to 250 g/t increased the overall gold extraction
by 3% (71.5–74.5%). The initial leaching kinetics were also in-
creased by 8%. The addition of lead reduced the dissolution of anti-
mony from 134 to 101 ppm. The source of antimony could be

100

90 P80 44 microns
Lead nitrate added in the pre-treatment
80

70
Au Extraction (%)

60

50

40 Pretreat Pb(NO3)2 DO NaCN Tail

(g/t) (ppm) (kg/t) (g/t)
30
yes 250 8 0.98 2.43
20 No 250 10 1.18 1.65
No 500 16 0.92 2.25
10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
Time (h)

Fig. 3. Effect of pre-treatment and dissolved oxygen on cyanidation of the ore from Freewest Central zone. Cyanidation: P80 of 44 lm, 21 °C, 800 ppm NaCN.

90

80

70

60
Au Extraction (%)

50

40 Pb(NO3)2 pH Kerosene NaCN Tail

(g/t) (g/t) (kg/t) (g/t)
30 250 9.8 - 1.51 1.93
500 10.5 - 1.13 1.45
20 250 10.5 30 1.30 1.38
800 10.5 - 1.12 1.67
10

0
0 24 48 72 96 120 144 168
Time (h)

Fig. 4. Effect of pH, lead nitrate and kerosene on cyanidation of the ore from Freewest Central zone. P80 of 39 lm, 10 ppm DO, 21 °C, 800 ppm NaCN.
 G. Deschênes et al. / Minerals Engineering 22 (2009) 799–808 803

aurostibite, berthierite (FeSb2S4)/gudmundite (FeSbS), metallic 2005). The Sb atoms on the gold surface had an Sb 3d5/2 binding
antimony and stibnite (SbS2). Very low concentrations of antimony energy of 530.6 eV, which indicated that Sb was in the form of
or antimony minerals can be significantly detrimental to gold dis- Sb5+, possibly Sb2O5. The stibnite in the slurry was subjected to
solution (Guo et al., 2005). The increase in concentration of thiocy- the following reactions:
anate (from 559 to 625 ppm) is related to the increase in cyanide 
consumption with lead nitrate. Sb2 S3 þ 8OH ! 2SbO2 þ 3S þ 4H2 O þ 6e ð1Þ
  
It was observed previously that Pb(NO3)2 precipitated Sb spe- S þ 6OH ! SO2
3 þ 3H2 O þ 4e ð2Þ
 
cies (SbO2 and SbO3 out of the leach solution when a stibnite/anti-  
2SbO2 þ 2OH ! Sb2 O5 þ H2 O þ 4e ð3Þ
mony-bearing sample is leached (Guo et al., 2005). However, no
sulphur species were detected in the passivation film using X-ray The interaction of lead and antimony during dissolution of aur-
Photoelectron Spectroscopy, indicating that the compounds could ostibite in cyanide solution is unknown.
2 2
not be thioantimonite (SbS3 ) nor antimonites (HSbO3 ) and The significant amount of pyrrhotite (2.8%) in the ore also has
2
antimonates (HSbO4 ) film, as mentioned previously (Adams, impact on gold leaching and cyanide consumption. Pyrrhotite is a

100

90

80

70
Au Extraction (%)

60

50
Pb(NO3)2 P80 Kerosene NaCN Tail
40
(g/t) (microns) (g/t) (kg/t) (g/t)

30 500 40 30 1.07 1.52

250 40 80 1.29 1.57
20
500 30 30 1.33 0.97
10

0
0 24 48 72 96 120 144 168
Time (h)

Fig. 5. Effect of lead nitrate, grind size and kerosene on cyanidation of the ore from Freewest Central zone. 10 ppm DO, 21 °C, 800 ppm NaCN, pH 10.5.

100

90

80

70
Au Extraction (%)

60

50

40 Kerosene NaCN Tail

(g/t) (kg/t) (g/t)
30 30 1.33 0.97
80 1.48 1.22
20

10

0
0 24 48 72 96 120 144 168
Time (h)

Fig. 6. Effect of kerosene on cyanidation of the ore from Freewest Central zone. P80 of 30 lm, 10 ppm DO, 21 °C, 800 ppm NaCN, pH 10.5, 500 g/t lead nitrate.
804 G. Deschênes et al. / Minerals Engineering 22 (2009) 799–808

100

90

80

70

Au extraction (%)
60

50 NaCN NaCN Tails

(ppm) (kg/t) (g/t)
40
250 0.85 1.42
30 400 0.95 1.45
600 1.14 1.39
20
1000 1.34 1.48
1200 1.39 1.32
10

0
0 24 48 72 96 120 144 168
Time (h)

Fig. 7. Effects of NaCN concentration on cyanidation of the ore from Freewest Central zone. 10 ppm DO, 21 °C, pH 10.5, 500 g/t lead nitrate.

Fig. 8. SEM-BSE images of aurostibite grains and related minerals/phases (auro = aurostibite, auro + Ni = Ni-bearing aurostibite gud = gudmundite, asp = arsenopyrite,
cp = chalcopyrite, Bi = native bismuth).
 G. Deschênes et al. / Minerals Engineering 22 (2009) 799–808
mineral with an iron deficient surface with complicated mecha-
nisms. The mechanism for formation is by diffusion of Fe and poly-
merization of the residual S. A general reaction describing the
overall dissolution and oxidation of pyrrhotite can be expressed
according to Eq. (4) (Deschênes et al., 2002b):
Fe1x S + 0.75yO2 + 1.5yH2 O ! Fe1xy S + yFe(OH)3
where Fe1xyS represents the iron deficient surface layer. Fe1xS is
used to illustrate the loss of iron. Sulphur in the iron deficient sul-
phide surface layers may be leached according to:
S2 + CN ! CNS + 2e
The reaction of pyrrhotite is inhibited by the formation of iron
hydroxide layer and by the presence of lead hydroxide or oxide
on the surface of pyrrhotite particles (Deschênes et al., 2000).
Without the appropriate amount of lead added, a passive layer
(sulphide) is formed on gold grains (Deschênes et al., 2002b). It is
not clear if there is a bond between gold and sulphide.
Fig. 2 illustrates the gold extractions at two different concentra-
tions of lime i.e. pH 10.5 and 700 ppm CaO, using 800 ppm NaCN,
250 g/t lead nitrate and a slightly higher DO (10 ppm). It is known
that using of a high concentration of lime and lead nitrate is much
more efficient for leaching calaverite (AuTe2) (Deschênes et al.,
2006b). However, aurostibite did not respond well to a high lime
concentration. 74.5% Gold was extracted at a pH of 10.5 compared
to only 68.8% with 700 ppm lime. With these conditions, the cya-
nide consumption was about 1 kg/t. The ore sample contains or-
Fig. 9. SEM-BSE images of aurostibite grains and related minerals/phases (auro = aurostibite, auro + Ni = Ni-bearing aurostibite).
805
ganic carbon, which is potentially preg-robbing (adsorbed
dissolved gold). A 75.0% gold extraction was obtained using a Car-
bon-In-Leach (CIL) at 50 g/L carbon, pH 10.5 with 250 g/t lead ni-
trate. The preg-robbing capacity of the slurry for gold would only
be 0.5%. The cyanide consumption significantly increased in the
CIL (2.84 kg/t). This is related to the catalytic decomposition of cya-
ð4Þ
nide on carbon. A high concentration of cyanate (496 ppm) oc-
curred at the end of the leach.
The leaching time was extended to 120 h because Fig. 3 indi-
cated that the system requires a longer time to reach a steady state.
The gold extraction was only 69.6% even after extending the pre-
ð5Þ treatment by 16 h at pH 10.5, 16 ppm oxygen and with 250 g/t lead
nitrate. This poor performance is attributed to the higher dissolu-
tion of antimony during leaching (134 ppm). The formation of stib-
nate retards gold leaching. Increasing the DO to 16 ppm and the
lead nitrate to 500 g/t produced only 71.8% gold extraction. The
higher oxygen content of the slurry also enhanced the dissolution
of antimony (117 ppm). This finer grind (P80 of 44 lm) increased
the gold extraction to 79.4%. Under these conditions, the longer
leaching time increased the cyanide consumption by only
1.18 kg/t. In spite of the increase of surface area and the longer
retention time (120 h), the dissolution of antimony was lower
(53 ppm).
Preg-robbing was further investigated using the procedure pub-
lished by Goodall et al. (2005). The maximum preg-robbed gold in
24 h is 0.52 ppm or 6.4%. This is much higher than the results ob-
tained with the CIL.
806 G. Deschênes et al. / Minerals Engineering 22 (2009) 799–808

Using 250 g/t lead nitrate, the addition of kerosene (30 g/t) im- cessed at a pH lower than 10 to avoid the dissolution of antimony
proved the gold extraction to 82.8% (Fig. 4). The duration of the that precipitates gold in solution. The use of pH 9.8 did not im-
leach was extended to 168 h because the system did not reach a prove gold extraction, which was only 75.9%. The increase of lead
steady state in 120 h. Gold ores containing stibnite are usually pro- nitrate reached an optimum gold extraction of 81.9% with 500 g/t.

Fig. 10. EDS spectra of three rim phases on aurostibite grains.

 G. Deschênes et al. / Minerals Engineering 22 (2009) 799–808 807

Leaching at pH <10 certainly decreased the concentration of tite. The concentration of sulphate increased from 37 to 367 ppm.
antimony in solution (37 ppm). However, the concentration of The release of sulphide ions in solution is probably responsible
antimony in solution does not show a direct relation with the for the low gold extraction at pH below 10. The variation in thiocy-
extraction of gold. The lower pH favoured the oxidation of pyrrho- anate concentration for these two systems indicates different

Fig. 11. EDS spectra of a rim phase on an aurostibite grain, aurostibite, and a Ni-bearing aurostibite.
808 G. Deschênes et al. / Minerals Engineering 22 (2009) 799–808
reaction paths of sulphide minerals with cyanide as well. The final
concentrations of antimony were, respectively, 113 and 139 ppm
for leaching tests using lead nitrate (500 g/t) and lead nitrate with
kerosene.
Fig. 5 illustrates the effect of grind size and kerosene (80 g/t).
The increase of kerosene did not improve the overall gold extrac-
tion (80.4%). However, the finer grind (P80 of 30 lm) increased
the gold extraction to 87.9%.
Increasing the kerosene addition from 30 to 80 g/t was detri-
mental to gold extraction (Fig. 6). The gold content of the leach res-
idue increased by 0.3 g/t, and gold extraction was reduced by 3.1%
and 3.6%, respectively.
Fig. 7 shows that the concentration of cyanide had no effect on
the overall gold extraction when varied from 250 to 1200 ppm
NaCN (P80 of 33 lm vs. 30 for the first sample). The gold extraction
varied from 82% to 83% (leach residue at 1.3–1.5 g/t Au). However,
the cyanide consumption decreased from 1.4 to 0.8 kg/t NaCN. The
formation of thiocyanate and iron cyanide decreased with the con-
centration of cyanide (from 845 to 641 ppm and from 39 to 3 ppm,
respectively) in leaching. No clear trend was noticed for the disso-
lution of antimony that varied from 43 to 144 ppm.
The gold content of the sample obtained by fire assay is 8.00 g/t,
compared to a calculated average of 7.94 g/t, a difference of only
1%. For the calculated head sample, the standard deviation is
0.33 and the variance is 0.11, which indicates a homogenous sam-
ple. The material balance, using all the experiments, indicates an
average difference of 0.6%, which is 0.05 g/t.
Several particles of aurostibite and a single particle of free na-
tive gold were found by mineralogical study of the hydrosepara-
tion concentrates of two cyanidation residues (with 0.97 and
1.49 g/t Au, respectively). The hydroseparation was used to con-
centrate gold in the leach residue. In terms of area%, aurostibite
grains represent 68% of the visible gold and a single large grain
of gold (47.7 lm) contains the balance of the visible gold. Most
of the aurostibite found was free (86 area%, n = 17), with 8 area%
attached to gudmundite, and 6 area% locked with gudmundite
and arsenopyrite. The exposed parts of aurostibite particles, with-
out exception, showed thin rims of Au–Sb–O or Sb–O phases,
which may be considered to be evidence of passivation, in addition
to other alteration phases within some grains. The ECD of free aur-
ostibite with rims averages 16 lm (range 5.4–35.9 lm; n = 13),
that of two grains of aurostibite attached to gudmundite is
13.1 lm (8.5, 17.6 lm), and that of two grains of locked aurostibite
is 11.8 lm (10.8, 12.9 lm). Some examples of these occurrences
are given in Figs. 8 and 9, with SEM EDS spectra of aurostibite
and different rims and alteration phases associated with aurosti-
bite given in Figs. 10 and 11.
The removal of coarse gold (0.57 wt%) was performed with a
Knelson concentrator and a Mosley table. The overall gold extrac-
tion was 27.2%. Cyanidation of the gravity residue increased the
overall extraction to 90.4% (leach residue at 0.77 g/t Au).
4. Conclusions
Gold can be efficiently extracted from the Central zone sample
of Clarence Stream Property, NB. using a cyanide concentration as
low as 250 ppm NaCN with the addition of lead nitrate and kero-
sene. Leaching gold from an ore containing aurostibite at atmo-
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spheric pressure, with a low cyanide concentration, without any
pre-treatment, is a new approach. The ore tested did not respond
positively to leaching at low pH (9.8). Usually, leaching at pH be-
low 10 improves gold extraction for ores containing stibnite. The
use of high dissolved oxygen and a pre-treatment were detrimen-
tal to gold extraction. The ore exhibited low preg-robbing proper-
ties and the addition of kerosene slightly improved gold extraction.
The gold extraction is sensitive to the grind size. A finer grind (P80
from 74 to 30 lm) contributed to increased gold extraction from
74.6 to 87.9%. The associated cyanide consumption was 1.33 kg/t.
The leaching system was not sensitive to cyanide concentration
in the range studied (250–1200 ppm NaCN), which reduced cya-
nide consumption to 0.85 kg/t. Examination of hydroseparation
concentrates of two leach residues showed that most of the un-lea-
ched gold occurs as aurostibite, either as locked particles or parti-
cles with passivation rims of a Au–Sb–O phase. Coarse gold was
also present. The removal of coarse gold increased the overall
extraction to 90.4% (leach residue at 0.77 g/t Au). This finding dem-
onstrates the usefulness of making and examining hydroseparation
concentrates of fine-grained cyanidation residues in order to
achieve optimal recovery.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Don Hoy, Freewest Resources Canada
Inc., for the authorization to publish this paper, to Patricia Hunt
for the SEM images, to Rolando Lastra for mineralogical analysis
of the head sample, and Regina Karwowska for the chemical
analyses.
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Website, CNT Mineral Consulting Inc., <http://www.cnt-mc.com>.
Website, Freewest Resources Canada Inc., <http://www.freewest.com>.