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Thiosulfate leaching of natural Acanthite ore in copper-ammonia-ammonium sulfate medium

University of British Columbia

Silver is commonly present in acanthite in nature. Reagents like cyanide are used to extract silver from acanthite ores. However, cyanide can potentially damage human health and environment. The use of cyanide is tightly regulated, thus forcing the industry to seek for alternatives. Thiosulfate is currently the most promising alternative. The leaching chemistry of silver with thiosulfate is complex and maybe supplemented with additives such as ammonia, copper and even ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. The efficiency of silver leaching is improved with the use of these additives. The use of cyanide for silver leaching in Navidad project in Argentina is not permitted, so the use of thiosulfate leaching as an alternative was investigated. The application of thiosulfate leaching to Navidad ores containing acanthite was the focus of this thesis. This thesis provides experimental evidence that supports the use of thiosulfate with additives as a promising alternative to conventional cyanidation method for the Navidad deposits and for similar deposits, wherever found. Thiosulfate leaching of silver is known for two pathways: silver in acanthite is substituted by cupric or by cuprous ion. The cupric pathway is thermodynamically more favourable, but various factors may affect extraction. Batch leaching tests showed that Navidad ore samples may be leached using thiosulfate, with silver extraction affected by variables including thiosulfate concentration, ammonia concentration, initial copper addition, pH, temperature, EDTA addition and the presence or absence of air sparging. The most significant variables were thiosulfate concentration, ammonia concentration, copper addition and pH. Cyanidation yielded 91.2% extraction of silver from a sample of Loma de la Plata, and thiosulfate leaching with 0.2 M of thiosulfate and 1.0 M of ammonia yielded comparable extractions: 92.1% and 87.0%, respectively. Initial copper addition increases extraction rate from 66.2% to 72.3% after 72 hours, and air sparging increases extraction rate to 84.8% after 72 hours. Other samples from the Navidad Project were also tested and found to be amenable to thiosulfate leaching. LDLPMC and Connector Zone (CZMC) sample were found to have potential for thiosulfate leaching to achieve a high silver extraction.

Text

2017-04-24

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/61358

Materials Engineering

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/