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cyanidation
noun
The extraction of gold or silver from their ores using the cyanide process
Exact(9)
In cyanidation, metallic gold is oxidized and dissolved in an alkaline cyanide solution.
Many gold-bearing ores and concentrates are not readily amenable to cyanidation, owing to the presence of substances that consume the cyanide reagent before it can dissolve the gold, preferentially adsorb the gold as it dissolves (a phenomenon called preg-robbing), or completely surround the gold particles in such a way as to prevent access by the cyanide leach solution.
Thus, the bulk of the gold may be recovered by leaching techniques using cyanidation or aqueous chlorination, and the residue may then be treated by smelting to recover the balance.
After oxidation is complete, cyanidation, as described above, is employed to solubilize and extract the gold.
With ores of higher gold content (i.e., greater than 20 grams of gold per ton of ore), cyanidation is accomplished by vat leaching, which involves holding a slurry of ore and solvent for several hours in large tanks equipped with agitators.
Gold extracted by amalgamation or cyanidation contains a variety of impurities, including zinc, copper, silver, and iron.
In this case they are merely shattered by explosives and then piled into heaps for extraction by cyanidation (see below).
The discovery of the Witwatersrand deposit coincided with the discovery of the cyanidation process, which made it possible to recover gold values that had escaped both gravity concentration and amalgamation.
More gold is recovered by cyanidation than by any other process.
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