Combined mechanochemical and thiosulphate leaching of silver from a complex sulphide concentrate

The intensification of the thiosulphate leaching of silver from a silver-bearing complex sulphide concentrate (Casapalca deposit) using mechanochemical alkaline leaching as the pretreatment step was investigated. The leaching of “as-received” concentrate with the thiosulphate solution afforded only 6% recovery of Ag into leach. The mechanochemical pretreatment resulted 85% amorphization of tetrahedrite as a silver-bearing mineral in the concentrate as well as an increase in specific surface area from the original value of 0.26 m2 g−1 to a maximum value of 15.7 m2 g−1. The pretreatment was performed in a stirred ball mill using variable milling times and sample weights. The physico-chemical changes in the concentrate as a consequence of mechanochemical pretreatment had a pronounced influence on the subsequent silver extraction. The optimum results from mechanochemical pretreatment and subsequent leaching of the concentrate with ammonium thiosulphate were achieved by using a milling time of 60 min and a weight of sample of 60 g. In this case, 99% recovery of Ag was achieved after only 3 min of leaching.