Use of ferricyanide for gold and silver cyanidation

Low gold and silver leaching kinetics has been commonly observed in traditional gold-silver cyanidation process, especially in heap leaching and in situ leaching operations. The different mineralogy of gold and silver in the ores is suspected to be the main reason, e.g., the occurrence of low solubility acanthite (Ag2S) typically results in low overall silver extraction. Due to the low solubility of oxygen in cyanide solution, the reactivity and availability of oxidant is believed to be the critical limitation for gold and silver dissolution. The use of ferricyanide as the auxiliary oxidant for gold and silver cyanidation has been examined. The rotating disc test results prove the assistant effect of ferricyanide on increasing the dissolution rate of gold and silver. The potential use of ferricyanide in gold/silver cyanidation process is proposed based on the leaching results of actual ores.