MODELING AND OPTIMIZATION OF CYANIDATION PROCESS - A CHEMOMETRIC APPROACH BY REGRESSION-ANALYSIS

A process of direct leaching of gold and silver from a sulfide concent rate by cyanidation at ambient temperature was analyzed by simulation and optimization, using a chemometrical approach based on non-linear r egression. A set of models, describing the influence of the various re levant parameters on the dissolution process, including the initial co ncentration of sodium cyanide, the oxygen partial pressure and the lea ching time as the controllable variables in the process, were obtained based on the kinetic study and mathematical proof of the statistical procedure. The parameters in the set of models were estimated from the experimental data. Finally, the model was used to determine the optim um conditions for the leaching of gold and silver by direct cyanidatio n. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.