Pure Appl. Chem.

2018; aop

Conference paper

Alejandro Alarcón, Carlos Segura, Carlos Gamarra and Juan Carlos F. Rodriguez-Reyes*
Green chemistry in mineral processing: chemical and
physical methods to enhance the leaching of silver and the
efficiency in cyanide consumption
https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2017-0904

Abstract: The leaching of valuable metals from mineral ores is the basis of several extractive economies
around the world, but the strategies employed often need to rely on dangerous compounds such as cyanides.
Due to the complex nature of most ores, leaching processes are slow and have a low efficiency in noble
metal extraction, which is usually improved by fine-milling the mineral. In this manuscript, we consider this
strategy, demonstrating that it may increase the amount of silver leaching, but at the expense of a higher
consumption of cyanide, which renders the process inefficient (only 2 % of consumed cyanide is employed
to complex silver). The increase in the yield of the desired product without the smarter use of dangerous
compounds is shown as a paradigm of the need to insert green chemistry principles in industrial processes.
We further present the result of two potential strategies for greener mineral processing: the use of ultrasound
to eliminate passivating layers formed during the leaching process and the use of chemical pretreatments to
eliminate possible sources of passivation. These strategies can increase the amount of silver extraction and
simultaneously increase the efficiency in cyanide consumption. The convenience of these pretreatments in
the framework of the green chemistry principles, as well as the challenges towards their implementation at
industrial scale, is discussed.

Keywords: green chemistry; ICGC-6; leaching; materials chemistry; minerals; silver.

Introduction
Countries with extractive economies are often under the risk of carrying out practices of low efficiency and/
or high environmental risk. For example, producers of gold and silver still rely in cyanidation to leach valu-
able metals from ores [1]. Even though mining companies have a robust set of strategies for the handling and
disposal of cyanide, the high toxicity of this compound is an environmental and social concern. In spite of
the auspicious use of alternative leaching agents such as thiosulfate or thiourea [2–6], these “greener” agents
are significantly less favorable than cyanide for complexing noble metal ions (Table 1 shows that, thermody-
namically, cyanide is by far the best complexing ligand for gold and silver) [5, 7–9]. Such favorability may be
enhanced using larger quantities of thio-compounds and/or additional chemicals, which may in turn render
the reaction not as friendly as originally intended [10].
More recently, however, there have been two major changes in the rules followed in mineral process-
ing: (1) the global trend for developing and using more sustainable, environmentally friendly procedures,

Article note: A collection of invited papers based on presentations at the 6th international IUPAC Conference on Green Chemistry
(ICGC-6), Venice (Italy), 4–8 September 2016.

*Corresponding author: Juan Carlos F. Rodriguez-Reyes, Department of Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering, Universidad
de Ingeniería y ­Tecnología – UTEC, Jr. Medrano Silva 165, Barranco, Lima 04, Peru, Tel.: (511) 230500 ext. 4220,
E-mail: jcrodriguez@utec.edu.pe
Alejandro Alarcón, Carlos Segura and Carlos Gamarra: Department of Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering, Universidad de
Ingeniería y ­Tecnología – UTEC, Jr. Medrano Silva 165, Barranco, Lima 04, Peru

© 2018 IUPAC & De Gruyter. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
4.0 International License. For more information, please visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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Table 1: Stability of gold and silver ions forming complexes with cyanide (CN−), thiosulfate (S2O3−2), thiourea (SC(NH2)2),
ammonia (NH3) and hydroxide (OH−).

Reaction Log K (M = Ag) Log K (M = Au) Refs.

M+ + 2CN− = M(CN)2− 20.0 38.3 [5, 8]

M+3 + 4CN− = M(CN)4− 20.8 85 [5, 8]
M+ + 2S2O3−2 = M(S2O3)2−3 12.5 26.24 [9]
M+ + SC(NH2)2 = M(SC(NH2)2+ – 23.3 [5]
M+ + 2NH3 = M(NH3)2+ 7.4 13; 19.5 [5, 7]
M+ + OH− + CN− = M(CN)(OH)− 12.8 23.3 [5]
M+ + 2OH− = M(OH)2− 4.0 24 [5]

and (2) the depletion of rich, easy-to-process ores, which forces the processing of refractory minerals (i.e.
minerals impervious to traditional procedures due to their high complexity and/or their low concentration
of valuable metals) [4, 11]. In response to these changes, there is a current interest in the development and
optimization of novel methods for processing minerals. In general, these efforts align rather well with the
principles of green chemistry [12]. For example, the safety principle (“inherently safer chemistry for the
prevention of accidents”) is observed in the transition from pyrometallurgical methods (high-temperature
processes such as roasting, which may yield gaseous products difficult to manage) to hydrometallurgical
methods (low-temperature processes in solution such as leaching, which yield aqueous products more
easily handled) [13]. In addition, the efforts for searching alternative leaching agents align well with the
principle of less hazardous chemical synthesis (“the design of synthetic routes should use and generate
substances as innocuous as possible”) Other principles will be discussed towards the end of the manu-
script, with particular attention directed towards the optimization of cyanide usage, especially considering
the case of refractory minerals.
At a molecular level, the processing of refractory minerals is challenging because there are several sce-
narios which may take place (Fig. 1). Assuming that the valuable metal is present as a mineral embedded
into a host mineral (for example, a silver-containing mineral embedded into pyrite, an iron sulfide), the first
challenge is to expose the valuable minerals to facilitate the leaching process. This is achieved by crushing

Fig. 1: Scheme showing the importance of comminution (fine milling) in the liberation of mineral particles containing a metal
of interest and a summary of the potential reactions taking place during cyanidation. (A) Leaching reaction with a noble metal
mineral exposed, formation of the desired complex; (B) matrix mineral impervious to cyanide; (C) side reaction of complexation,
often involving a transition metal of low economic value; (D) decomposition of cyanide; (E) matrix mineral permeable to cyanide,
where the leaching reaction may be limited by the diffusion of cyanide and/or the complex; (F) re-adsorption of complex
(preg-robbing).

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and milling the samples, through energy-intensive strategies which are known collectively as comminution.
Since comminution strategies are demanding not only energetically, but also economically, the size at which
the valuable mineral is more exposed (more liberated) is often established on economic grounds. The final
particle size for mineral processing is then a mixture of valuable minerals liberated, partially liberated and
still embedded in the sample. The different scenarios which may happen during leaching are shown in Fig. 1,
starting with the “ideal” leaching reaction (A), where a valuable mineral is exposed and easily reacts with the
leachant. For example, in the case of silver and silver sulfide the reactions are:

4Ag( s ) + 8CN −( ac ) + O2 ( g ) + 2H2O( l ) = 4Ag(CN)2 −( ac ) + 4OH−( ac ) (1)



Ag 2S( s ) + 4CN −( ac ) + H2O( l ) = 2Ag(CN)2 −( ac ) + OH−( ac ) + HS−( ac ) (2)



Figure 1 shows also other scenarios, such as when unexposed valuable minerals are embedded in a host
mineral which is impervious to cyanide (B), or when such host mineral reacts with cyanide, whether to form
valueless complexes (C) or to destroy the ion (D). If the mineral is permeable to cyanide there will be a case
in which diffusion becomes relevant (E), which will be discussed further below. Finally, it is possible that the
desired products are re-adsorbed on the surface of a mineral (F), a process known as preg-robbing and that
is often seen when the sample has carbon or hydrocarbonaceous solids. In the description shown in Fig. 1 it
has been assumed that the valuable mineral is isolated from the host mineral and that it easily reacts with a
leachant. However, it is possible that the valuable metal is atomically dispersed in a host mineral (in a similar
way as a dopant) and/or that the valuable element is forming a highly stable mineral, which is not as reactive
as the pure metal or the sulfide. In these extreme cases, the leaching process can only be possible through
aggressive chemistries which completely destroy (dissolve) the mineral [14].
The scenario shown in Fig. 1(E) is somehow representative of a regular operation of mineral processing:
the valuable metal is not liberated (due to limitations in comminution or to atomic-level distribution in the
mineral) but the host mineral is permeable to the leachant and the leaching process can occur. In this sce-
nario, the process of leaching will take place through a series of steps which include (i) adsorption of leach-
ing agent on the surface of the host mineral, (ii) diffusion of the leaching agent through the host mineral
towards the area where the valuable metal is present, (iii) formation of the complex metal – leachant, (iv)
diffusion of the valuable complex through the host mineral, and (v) desorption of the valuable complex into
the liquid phase [15]. Kinetically speaking, processes (i) and (v) are often fast, as they can be facilitated by
various means during processing (stirring, percolation, etc.). The limiting processes are often via steps (ii)
and/or (iv) (diffusion through the host mineral) or via step (iii) (the formation of a soluble complex). These
two possibilities are well represented in the so-called shrinking core model, which assumes that a reactant
(the leaching agent) needs to pass across a forming layer of by-products, whose thickness increases as the
original particle (the core) shrinks during the reaction [8, 16]. Even though this model has been developed for
gas-solid systems, it has been broadly employed by the hydrometallurgical community because the data from
leaching can be plotted in equations corresponding to a diffusion-controlled process (Eq. 3) or a reaction-
controlled process (Eq. 4):

1 –(1 − X)⅔ − 2 / 3 ⋅ X = k d ⋅ t (3)



1 − (1 − X)⅓ = k r ⋅ t, (4)


where t is the reaction time, kd is the kinetic constant for a diffusion-controlled process, kr is the kinetic
constant for a reaction-controlled process and X is the fraction of metal leached [16, 17]. Then, if a leaching
process is followed over time (amount of metal leached over time), it is possible to fit the data into the forms
of Eqs. 3 or 4 to know which step is limiting. Diffusion-controlled processes can be optimized by reducing
the path travelled by the leaching agent, which is often done by fine-milling the sample. They can also be
optimized by modifying/destroying the by-product layer, which is particularly important when this layer is

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impervious to the leaching agent. In this regard, here we present the results of optimization of silver extrac-
tion and cyanide consumption using ultrasound (to facilitate the removal of by-product layers) and of an
alkaline pretreatment (likely to remove elements which interfere with the leaching process). Through these
examples, we demonstrate that the low efficiency of cyanide consumption (close to a striking 2 %) is not
improved with fine milling, but that ultrasound-assisted leaching and the alkaline pretreatment can lead to
an improve in cyanide consumption and, simultaneously, in silver extraction.

Experimental section

Description of mineral samples

The mineral concentrate employed can be defined as a silver-containing polymetallic sulfide. Characteriza-
tion using polarization microscopy showed that it was composed mainly of pyrite-based minerals (60 %),
spharelite (10 %) and gangues (30 %). Through atomic absorption (AA) essays it was determined that the
sample had as main metals iron (20.9 %) and manganese (8.3 %), with smaller quantities of lead (1.64 %),
arsenic (1.54 %), zinc (1.33 %) and antimony (0.63 %). Silver content in the sample is 47 oz/ton (~1330 g/ton).
According to their granulometry, the sample was found to consist of particles greater than 80 μm (mesh 170,
29 %), particles between 53 and 80 μm (mesh 170–270, 32 %) and particles smaller than 53 μm (mesh 270,
39 %). Experiments investigating the effect of milling (Section “The effect of fine milling in the efficiency of
silver extraction and cyanide consumption”) employed only the particles greater than 80 μm, which were
used with and without ball milling (until all particles were smaller than 53 μm). Other experiments used the
sample without sieving. Samples were rinsed with water prior to leaching in order to decrease the amount of
contaminants and remnants from previous procedures.

Leaching methods

Caution: Sodium cyanide, NaCN, is a dangerous chemical which poses health and environmental risks for
laboratory workers and personnel. It has to be handled with extreme caution and using the appropriate per-
sonal protection equipment (safety glasses, gloves and mask). Experiments must be carried out in a hood.
Cyanide solutions can be considered safe if confined to containers at pH values above 10, since at lower pH
values there is a risk to produce HCN, which is a very poisonous gas. Solutions and materials in contact with
cyanide should be oxidized with a strong oxidizer to guarantee the decomposition of cyanide to cyanate
(CNO−) first and to CO2 later. Here, bleach was employed as oxidizer, always in a basic medium.
Leaching experiments were conducted using 50 g of sample in 200 mL of a NaCN solution (8 g NaCN/L)
at room temperature. The slurry (~25 % solids) was agitated with overhead stirrers at a speed of 100 RPM.
Leaching was kept at room temperature (22 °C). The solution was kept at pH = 13 at all times by monitoring
the pH with a Thermo Orion reader (Orion Star A 324) and adding dropwise a 0.1 M NaOH solution to adjust
the pH when needed.
The concentration of cyanide was kept constant after determining periodically the amount of cyanide
consumed and adding such amount to the slurry. The amount of free cyanide in solution is calculated by
titrating 1 mL of leaching solution with AgNO3 (2 g/L), using rodamine as indicator (a change in color from
orange to pink was indicative of the equivalence point). The amount of silver leached was determined using
atomic absorption spectroscopy (Perkin Elmer Analyst). It is important to note that the calculation of con-
sumed cyanide cannot be related to the amount of silver leached, since [CN]consumed is the sum of cyanide
complexing silver, [CN]Ag, and cyanide participating in side, uncontrolled reactions:

[CN]consumed = [CN]Ag + [CN]undesired (5)



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 A. Alarcón et al.: Green chemistry in mineral processing      5

Then, it is possible to calculate the efficiency in the consumption of cyanide from the ratio [CN]Ag/
[CN]undesired. This ratio is shown multiplied by 100 to represent the percentage of efficiency in cyanide con-
sumption and will be linked to the atom economy principle of green chemistry (“synthetic methods should
maximize the incorporation of chemicals in the final product”).

Ultrasound-assisted leaching

The leaching experiments outlined in Section “Leaching methods” were replicated with the leaching vase
under sonication, using a conventional sonication bath (Branson Bransonics 220). Due to sonication, the
temperature of the solution increased from room temperature (~20 °C) to 60 °C. Even though there may be a
thermal effect together with the ultrasonic effect, these two effects were not decoupled in the work presented
here. Further details can be found in Ref. [18].

Chemical pretreatments of the mineral

Before leaching, the sample was exposed to a solution of sodium hydroxide (5 g/L) at 70 °C during 4  h.
After this pretreatment, the sample was filtered and washed until the effluent had a pH below 11. Then, the
pretreated sample was dried in an oven at 100 °C and after drying it was leached following the procedures
described in Section “Leaching methods”.

Results and discussion

The effect of fine milling in the efficiency of silver extraction and cyanide
consumption

Figure 2 shows the results of silver extraction (grams of Ag leached/ton of mineral) during cyanide leaching
for both the as-received and the fine-milled samples. As reference, the total amount of silver present in the
sample (1330 g Ag/ton of mineral) is shown. Then, it can be observed that the as-received sample has an
efficiency of silver leaching of around 25 %, which is increased to ~40 % upon fine milling. In both cases
the trend of silver extraction is asymptotic, in spite of the fact that the experimental procedure provides
a constant cyanide concentration throughout the experiment, which demonstrates the refractory nature of
the sample under study. As mentioned in the Introduction, it is possible to fit the data corresponding to
silver extraction into the equations of the so-called shrinking core model (Eqs. 3 and 4) and obtain informa-
tion regarding the rate-limiting step of the process. The results are shown in Fig. 2 and provide evidence
of a diffusion-controlled leaching process. This indicates that the greater efficiency in silver extraction for
finer particles is not because of an enhanced liberation, but because of an easier diffusion through the host
mineral, either from the fact that particles are fractured during milling or from the fact that cyanide diffuses
through shorter distances in finer particles.
The other parameter of interest is the consumption of cyanide, which is plotted in Fig. 3, together with
the data for silver extraction to show the good correlation between these two variables. Milling also increases
the consumption of cyanide (from ~20 to ~30 kg NaCN per ton of sample), which is expected as fine-milling
originates an increase of surface area in the sample, which in turn may promote side reactions involving
cyanide. Indeed, it is important to notice that these values are large with respect to the theoretical value,
1.2 kg NaCN/ton of sample, calculated assuming that the total amount of silver (1330 g Ag/ton) is leached
as Ag(CN)2−. The correlation between the trends of silver extraction and cyanide consumption indicates that

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6      A. Alarcón et al.: Green chemistry in mineral processing

Fig. 2: Top panel: Extraction of silver during the leaching of a polymetallic sulfide with two different particle sizes. The dotted
line indicates the total silver content in the samples (1.3 kg Ag/ton of sample). Middle and bottom panels: Silver extraction data
fitted into the equations of the so-called shrinking core model corresponding to a diffusion-controlled process (middle) and a
reaction-controlled process (bottom). The linearity obtained in the first case indicates that the leaching process is controlled by
diffusion.

these two reactions are part of the same process (it will be shown below that this is not always the case).
Because of this correlation, the efficiency of cyanide consumption (defined in Eq. 5) is nearly constant, for
both granulometries close to 2 %.
Regardless of the amount of silver extracted, it is important to determine the reason for the halt of silver
extraction after 6 h. The fact that the process is controlled by diffusion in both granulometries suggests that
diffusion itself is stopped, which would be the case if passivating layers are grown as leaching proceeds.
This suggestion is supported by the detection of changes in the surface composition during leaching (these
studies constitute an additional publication). Then, strategies directed towards the breaking of this layer can
improve the leaching process, as demonstrated in the next sub-section.

Ultrasound-assisted leaching as an option for increasing the extraction of silver

Figure 4 shows the extraction of silver and the consumption of cyanide during the regular leaching and
with the leaching assisted with sonication. These experiments used the sample without sieving. The

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Fig. 3: Comparison of trends in cyanide consumption and silver extraction during the leaching of a polymetallic sulfide with two
different particle sizes (top). The similarity in trends for each particle size indicates that the efficiency of cyanide consumption
is similar for these samples, which is confirmed as the molar efficiency, defined as the ratio of cyanide complexing silver to the
cyanide consumed (bottom).

results for the mineral under regular leaching are very similar for those obtained for the coarse mineral in
the previous subsection under the same timeframe (first 400 min, approximately). However, at longer reac-
tion times (considered to match the times needed for the ultrasound-assisted process) the consumption
of cyanide continues, even though the amount of silver remains constant. This indicates that a different
cyanide-consuming process starts to take place, but it will not be discussed as it is beyond the purpose of
this study.
The amount of silver extracted increases when the leaching is conducted under ultrasound, although
it requires longer times for reaching the maximum. The fact that during the first 100 min both the amount
of silver extracted and the consumption of cyanide are similar with and without sonication indicates that
initially the ultrasound does not affect the progress of the reaction. Then, the effect of ultrasound is only
noticeable at latter times, likely when the mineral starts forming passivating layers. Experiments reported
previously by our group showed that sonication is effective only during leaching (leaching of a mineral
­previously exposed to sonication for 1 day did not show differences in silver extraction), indicating that ultra-
sound operates over surface by-products and not over the original sample [18]. These facts support the pro-
posal that sonication helps by inhibiting the passivation of the sample. The trend of cyanide consumption is
not correlated to the amount of silver extracted towards the end of the leaching, likely because the minerals/
elements which consume cyanide have been depleted and/or passivated. This fact allows for an increase in
the efficiency of silver extraction from 2 to 3 % (Fig. 4). The different stages of the leaching process observed
during ultrasound-assisted leaching are subject of a different publication. Here, it is important to highlight
that the efficiency of both silver extraction and cyanide consumption can be enhanced by using methods able
to disrupt the formation of a passivating layer. Another option is to modify the behavior of the sample not
during leaching, but through a previous stage, where elements and/or minerals can be modified to facilitate

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Fig. 4: Top panel: amounts of silver extraction and cyanide consumption during the leaching of the as-receive mineral without
and with sonication. Since ultrasound-assisted leaching stabilizes the amount of silver extracted only after 1000 min, the same
time was considered for the regular leaching. In this latter case, the occurrence of side reactions after silver extraction is com-
pleted can be observed from the continuous consumption of cyanide. Bottom panel: Efficiency in cyanide consumption, showing
a slight increase for the ultrasound-assisted leaching and a decrease for lengthy regular leaching procedures.

the leaching process. This option involves a chemical treatment before leaching, which is shown in the final
set of results.

Alkaline pretreatment as an option for increasing the efficiency of leaching

Figure 5 shows that the levels of silver extraction increase to ~700 and 1000 g/L for samples pretreated in an
alkaline solution at 70 °C and concentrations of 5 and 10 g/L NaOH, respectively. Pretreatment of the miner-
als at temperatures lower than 70 °C did not show any improvement with respect to the leaching without
pretreatment (data not shown). Interestingly, the asymptotic behavior of silver extraction data is similar to
the one observed for the mineral without pretreatment: a maximum is observed in both cases after 400 min,
marking a difference with respect to the time needed for ultrasound-assisted leaching. This can be explained
by assuming that while in the latter case sonication needs time to disrupt the formation of a passivating
layer, the chemical pretreatment does not postpone the formation of such layer, but allows for an easier,
more efficient extraction process where diffusion is not limiting the reaction. In agreement with this view,
the data corresponding to silver extraction cannot be fitted to neither the functions for diffusion-controlled
nor reaction-controlled processes. Further supporting the notion that the pretreatment modifies the compo-
sition of the samples and originates different behaviors during leaching, the consumption of cyanide does
not increase significantly during leaching. Thus, it seems clear that the pretreatment may be attacking and
removing some minerals interfering with the cyanidation process. It is important to highlight that, according

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Fig. 5: Top panel: amounts of silver extraction and cyanide consumption during the leaching of the mineral pretreated with two
different concentrations of NaOH. Bottom panel: Efficiency in cyanide consumption, showing a similar behavior for both cases.

to the data in Table 1, this hydroxide pretreatment is not expected to involve the formation of the complex
Ag(OH)2−, as it is not favorable thermodynamically [K = 103.6 vs. K = 1020.1 for the formation of Ag(CN)2− and
K = 1012.8 for the formation of Ag(OH)(CN)−]. Figure 5 shows that the efficiency of cyanide consumption is
initially 10 % and later decreases to 5 %, a value that is still large compared to the 2 % seen during regular
leaching. The fact that the efficiency in consumption of cyanide decreases over time indicates that the outer
layers of the sample are the ones that are more significantly modified during the pretreatment, suggesting

Table 2: Summary of results.

Mineral and leaching method   Silver  Cyanide  Efficiency in

extraction consumption cyanide
(g/ton) (kg NaCN/ton) consumption (%)

Coarse, regular leaching   350  18  2

Coarse, after milling, regular leaching   550  30  2
Mixed granulometry, regular leaching   350  15 (26)a  2 (1)a
Mixed granulometry, ultrasound-assisted leaching   800  25 (25)b  2 (3)b
Mixed granulometry, pretreated (5 g/L NaOH) before regular leaching   700  16  5
Mixed granulometry, pretreated (10 g/L NaOH) before regular leaching  1000  22  5
a
Cyanide consumption increases after silver extraction reached a maximum.
b
Cyanide consumption increases at an slower rate than silver extraction.
All values are approximates, based on the asymptotic trends observed in the data from Figs. 2 through 5. Values in parenthesis
are shown for cases in which there are changes in the efficiency due to the lack of correlation between silver extraction and
cyanide consumption.

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Table 3: Evaluation of the strategies considered to increase the efficiency of leaching.

  Fine   Ultrasound-assisted  Chemical treatment

milling leaching before leaching

Improves efficiency of cyanide consumption   No   Yes   Yes

Known technology at industrial scale   Yes   No   Yes
Energy requirements   Large   Unknown   Mild
Longer processing time   Yes   No   Yes
Greater generation of residues   No   No   Yes
Greater consumption of chemicals and natural resources  No   No   Yes

that larger pretreatment times and/or the use of harsher conditions of temperature and/or NaOH concentra-
tion may render the reaction more efficient towards the use of cyanide. These alternatives were beyond the
purpose of our research.

Challenges and opportunities related to cyanide leaching

Table 2 presents a summary of the results reported in the previous section for an easier comparison of the
processes considered here. With an efficiency of cyanide consumption of only ~2 %, silver leaching of the
mineral under study can be hardly considered a “green” chemical process, especially considering a com-
pound with such high toxicity. The three strategies considered in this work (fine milling, ultrasound assis-
tance and chemical pretreatment) are able to increase the amount of silver extracted, but only the latter two
can simultaneously increase the efficiency in cyanide consumption. As indicated in Section “Experimental
section”, the efficiency in cyanide consumption can be related to the atom economy principle of green chem-
istry, since it evaluates the amount of cyanide that is incorporated into the final product as the complex
Ag(CN)2−(ac). Considering this principle, the most convenient, “greener” strategies will be the assistance with
ultrasound and the chemical pretreatments. However, it is important to consider additional green principle
principles and also views from an industrial point to provide a complete evaluation of each strategy. Table 3
presents an evaluation of the strategies outlined here in critical aspects such as feasibility for implementa-
tion and consumption of energy and resources, which will be further discussed for each strategy.

Fine milling

Even though this procedure does not increase the efficiency of cyanide consumption, it is attractive because
it can increase the amount of silver extracted using technologies already available for mining companies.
The fact that the equipment needed for fine milling is well known at industrial level is a great driving force
towards implementation. Even more, most industrial settings have already milling units already installed
and it would be only matter of extending the energy and time for the comminution process. Knowing that
milling is an energy-intensive process, it does not follow the design for energy efficiency principle (“energy
requirements should be minimized”). However, this strategy may be considered attractive in industrial set-
tings because it does not require additional chemicals (prevention principle: “preventing waste is better than
treating waste”) and does not require the use of additional substances (safer solvents/auxiliaries principle:
“auxiliary substances to facilitate the reaction, including solvents, should be minimized”).

Ultrasound-assisted leaching

An advantage seen over fine milling and the use of chemical pretreatments is that ultrasound-assisted leach-
ing does not require additional steps, since sonication is applied during the regular leaching. This fact sets

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 A. Alarcón et al.: Green chemistry in mineral processing      11

this strategy along the principles of prevention of waste and safer solvents/auxiliaries. The main drawback
of this strategy is that sonication at industrial level is not widespread and it may represent an uncertain tech-
nique which carries significant risks not only on technical grounds, but also on economic and even safety
grounds.

Chemical pretreatments

This strategy also increases the efficiency in cyanide consumption, particularly during the first stages of
leaching, making pretreatment the best option from the perspective employed here for the atom economy
principle. However, this strategy rises several concerns which needs to be considered towards implementa-
tion. First, it requires an additional step in the metallurgical operation, after comminution and before leach-
ing, which will involve additional investment and/or expenses. The most critical considerations, however,
are from the point of view of the green chemistry principles, since the consideration of an additional step,
which requires heating, presents conflicts with respect to the principles or prevention of waste, design for
energy efficiency and safer solvents/auxiliaries. The latter principle takes, in the case of mining, an unusual
dimension, since reducing the amount of fresh water required is as important as reducing the use of chemi-
cals. In the context of mining, the minimization of the solvent (water) is of the utmost importance to avoid
social problems, especially in areas of water scarcity and/or in areas where mining and agriculture coexist.
Thus, this discussion has intended to present a complete view of three strategies for improving leaching
processes using cyanide. These (and other) strategies must be considered in a case-by-case basis, since differ-
ent minerals can feature a different behavior. If a strategy results in an actual decrease in cyanide consump-
tion, this outcome will need to be weighed with respect to the consumption of energy and resources of such
strategy to decide whether it is worth to consider investigating the scaling-up. For example, the increase in
the mass of reagents employed during pretreatment (e.g. the mass of the acid employed in a pretreatment)
will need to be contrasted to the decrease in the mass of cyanide consumed, although it will almost always
work as a rule that a decrease in cyanide consumption will be worth the increase in any other chemical. An
exception to this statement will be water, which is currently considered not only a solvent, but also a precious
resource.

Summary and conclusions

The leaching of silver from a refractory mineral has been shown as a complex process where several different
mechanisms can take place, where silver extraction itself can be considered a diffusion-controlled process,
characterized by a low efficiency in silver extraction. Fine milling, a usual strategy to improve the extraction
of silver at industrial level, is shown to achieve that purpose but at the cost of increasing also the consump-
tion of cyanide. Ultrasound-assisted leaching was shown to be efficient for increasing the amount of silver
extracted by interrupting the formation of passivating layers during leaching, and chemical pretreatments
prior to leaching were shown to significantly increase the efficiency of both silver extraction and cyanide con-
sumption. From the point of view of green chemistry, however, the use of chemical pretreatments is not very
attractive as it requires the use of additional processes, chemicals, energy and water. The use of sonication is
more advantageous, but has as main challenge the evaluation at larger scale and the lack of familiarity in the
mining sector towards this technology.

Acknowledgments: Instituto Superior Tecnológico Tecsup, is acknowledged for facilitating the use of wet
chemistry and instrumental analysis laboratories. In particular, Ms. Yorsel Mayhua, Prof. Marixa Zegarra and
Prof. Jorge Castillo (Tecsup) are thanked for their support during the research. C. G. acknowledges the support
from Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología, UTEC. A. A. and C. S. participated in this research under the
undergraduate program Vivir la Ingeniería at UTEC.

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12      A. Alarcón et al.: Green chemistry in mineral processing

Author contributions: The manuscript was written by J. C. F. Rodriguez-Reyes, with contributions of all other
authors. A. Alarcon and C. Segura conducted the experiments, under the supervision of C. Gamarra and J. C.
F. Rodriguez-Reyes. All authors worked in data analysis and have given approval to the final version of the
manuscript.

Funding sources: This research was supported by the Phosagro/UNESCO/IUPAC Partnership in Green Chem-
istry for Life (Contract 4500245048) and by Peru´s National Council for Science, Technology and Technologi-
cal Innovation (CienciActiva-CONCYTEC) and the British Embassy in Lima (contracts 154-2015 and 002-2016).

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  Pure Appl. Chem.   2018 | Volume x | Issue x

Graphical abstract

Alejandro Alarcón, Carlos Segura, Conference paper: The

Carlos Gamarra and Juan Carlos low efficiency during
F. Rodriguez-Reyes the cyanide-mediated
Green chemistry in mineral ­processing: leaching of silver
chemical and physical methods to opens possibilities
enhance the leaching of silver and the for introducing green
efficiency in cyanide consumption chemistry concepts
in mineral processing
https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2017-0904 through strategies
Pure Appl. Chem. 2018; x(x): xxx–xxx such as assistance
with sonication
and alkaline
pretreatments.

Keywords: green
chemistry; ICGC-6;
leaching; materials
chemistry; minerals;
silver.

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