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Research Summary

Gold Process Mineralogy II

Process Mineralogy of Gold: Gold from Telluride-Bearing Ores


Paul G. Spry, Stephen Chryssoulis, and Christopher G. Ryan

Petrographic and microanalytical studies of gold in gold-silver telluride deposits show that it occurs as visible gold extracted by cyanidation, and as visible gold and invisible gold that are unamenable to cyanidation. Two gold-bearing tellurides, calaverite and buckhornite, are considerably less amenable to cyanidation in comparison to Au-Ag tellurides. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy and recent developments in dynamic analysis of proton-induced x-ray emission demonstrate that Au occurs as nanoparticles and is structurally bound in As-, Ag-, and Te-rich pyrite and that an antithetic relationship can also exist between Au and As in pyrite. INTRODUCTION The release of gold for metallurgical recovery from gold deposits is dependent on the nature and particle size of the gold-bearing mineral, the textural association of gold with gangue and economically recoverable suldes (e.g., sphalerite, galena, and chalcopyrite), and the composition of the gangue mineral. This study evaluates the mineralogical and textural characteristics of refractory gold ores that occur in the hypogene environment of epithermal and mesothermal goldsilver telluride deposits. Metallurgical problems associated with gold-bearing tellurides and invisible gold (i.e., structurally bound gold and inclusions of native gold <1,000 in size) are addressed. The use of secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) and recent developments in dynamic analysis of proton-induced x-ray emission (PIXE) true elemental imaging to understand the distribution of native gold/electrum and precious metal tellurides in gold ores are discussed as well.
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GOLD-BEARING MINERALS In hypogene ores, gold occurs primarily in the form of native gold or as an alloy with Ag (electrum is the informal name given to Au-Ag alloys with 20 to 80 mol% Ag), and to a lesser extent with Bi as maldonite (Au2Bi), Sb as aurostibite (AuSb2), Cu as auricupride (Cu3Au) and tetra-auricupride (AuCu), and Pb as hunchinite (Au2Pb). Gold also occurs with multiple elements as, for example, in bogdanovite [Au5(Cu,Fe)3(Te,Pb)2] and bezsmertnovite [Au 4Cu(Te,Pb)]. Gold may bond with Se and S to form, for example, schesserite (Ag3AuSe2) and uytenbogaardite (Ag3AuS2). However, it is the element Te with which Au bonds to form the greatest variety of minerals as tellurides or sulphotellurides, namely buckhornite (AuPb2BiTe2S3), calaverite (AuTe2), kostovite (CuAuTe4), krennerite (AuTe2), montbrayite [(Au,Sb)2Te3], muthmannite (Ag,AuTe), nagygite [(Pb(Pb,Sb)S 2 )(Au,Te)], sylvanite [(AgAu)2Te4], and petzite (Ag3AuTe2). Although rare in nature, gold also occurs in the structure of arsenic chlorite.1 Native gold, gold alloys, gold-bearing tellurides, sulfotellurides, and selenides occur as macro- and micro-inclusions in suldes, particularly pyrite, marcasite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and arsenopyrite, sulfosalts (e.g., tetrahedritegroup minerals), silicates (e.g., quartz, chalcedony, sericite), carbonates (e.g., calcite, dolomite, ankerite), sulfates (e.g., barite, gypsum), and carbonaceous matter. Not only does the nature of the host phase affect the choice of the process used in metallurgical recovery but the composition of the gold-bearing mineral is also critical. Precious metal tellurides are notoriously refractory phases.26

GOLD-SILVER TELLURIDE DEPOSITS The most common metallurgical practices for extraction of gold from gold ore involve gravity concentration, cyanidation, and otation.3 For ores that are refractory, particularly where goldbearing minerals are contained within the crystalline structure of arsenian pyrite, arsenian marcasite, and arsenopyrite, other processes may be required to liberate the gold. These processes (e.g., chemical oxidation, roasting, pressure oxidation, and bio-oxidation) precede the cyanidation step and primarily involve the oxidation of sulde minerals to render the gold amenable to cyanidation. The use of microwave energy7 has also been considered in mineral processing of tellurides. For ores that are treated with cyanide, metallurgists must consider the proportion of the visible gold that is amenable to cyanidation, and visible gold and the invisible gold that are not amenable to cyanidation. Reected light microscopic studies, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), SIMS, and PIXE studies can be used to help evaluate the relative contributions of invisible gold and visible gold (goldbearing tellurides and native gold) in the deposit. Ores in a given deposit can vary from amenable to refractory. In this study, mineralogical, textural, and analytical information shows the variability in the visible and invisible gold mineral content of four epithermal or mesothermal gold and gold-silver deposits. These deposits include the mesothermal Golden Mile deposit, Kalgoorlie, Australia, and the epithermal Emperor gold deposit, which are worldclass gold telluride deposits, as well as the smaller epithermal Tuvatu deposit,
JOM August 2004

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