THE POTENTIAL FOR REAGENT RECYCLE IN THE ION FLOTATION OF GOLD CYANIDE - A PILOT-SCALE FIELD TRIAL

The paper describes the work undertaken during a pilot scale field tri al of the ion flotation process, as applied to the recovery of gold. I n this process the gold cyanide anions of a heap Leach liquor are adso rbed, through the use of a cationic surface active reagent, on the sur face of rising air bubbles and recovered as part of a froth product co ncentrate. The principal objectives of the trial were to establish the technical feasibility of long-term reagent recycle and to quantify th e recyclability of the reagent, an essential specification in the dete rmination of the economic viability of the technology which could not be sensibly established at the laboratory scale. The trial involved a total of 13 reagent recycle stages. The results indicated that the rec yclability of the reagent is about 80%.