MOSSBAUER STUDY OF GOLD IN A COPPER REFINERY

The chemical form of gold in a copper-refinery anode and in raw anode slimes was studied using Au-197 Mossbauer spectroscopy. The Mossbauer spectrum of the anode is typical of gold in solution with copper, pres umably with the gold associated with other impurities. The spectrum of the raw slimes consists of a single line and a quadrupole doublet wit h an isomer shift of + 1.2 mm/s and a quadrupole splitting of 5.0 mm/s . The single line can be attributed to a gold-rich alloy, with an appr oximate composition of Au60Ag40 or Au80Cu20 if it is a binary alloy, o r to a ternary Au-Ag-Cu alloy of appropriate composition. The paramete rs of the quadrupole doublet match those of Ag3AuSe2 (fischesserite) o r related Ag2-xAuxSe compounds.