L. Guzman et al., RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF A GOLD PARTICLE SYSTEM ANDTHE LEACHING CURVE IN CYANIDE SOLUTIONS, Hydrometallurgy, 36(2), 1994, pp. 187-199
In a leaching solution at a constant stirring rate, a system of solid
particles dissolves at a rate dependent on reagents concentration and
temperature. In consequence, if these two variables are keep constant
throughout the dissolution process, the variations in the slope of the
plot of the dissolved gold mass, or the fraction reacted versus time,
are caused only by the decrease in the solid surface area caused by t
he dissolution process. This variation in surface for a gold particle
system comprising only plate particles, allows us to establish the siz
e distribution frequency from the slope of the curve of the gold mass
dissolved versus time. In this paper a method to establish the size di
stribution of a gold particle system from the leaching curves in cyani
de solutions is deduced. The size distribution, calculated from the fr
action reacted versus time curve, compares well with the distribution
found by measuring the particles using electron microscopy. The method
allows us to establish the size distribution of systems comprising ve
ry small particles.