Resumo

TERAN-BOJORQUEZ, D.G. et al. Alternative cyanide leaching agent for gold teluride refractory minerals. Epistemus (Sonora) [online]. 2021, vol.15, n.31, pp.7-14.  Epub 26-Maio-2023. ISSN 2007-8196.  https://doi.org/10.36790/epistemus.v15i31.196.

Gold telluride minerals are refractory to conventional cyanidation, so their processing requires a previous treatment, or the use of alternative cyanide leaching agents. The growing presence of gold tellurides has created the need to search for new alternatives for the treatment of this type of minerals. In this, an extraction process of this type of minerals is proposed using Caro's acid as a pre-oxidant of the mineral for a subsequent conventional cyanidation. For this, a gold telluride mineral was used, previously cyanide, with the presence of calaverite (AuTe2). Caro's acid, for its part, is an oxidizing agent used to oxidize the CN- ion in cyanidation tails. Caro's acid functioned as a leaching agent, where direct acid leaching occurs, obtaining gold values that were considered non-recoverable.

Palavras-chave : Caro’s acid; gold telluride; refractory minerals.