Beneficiation methods for five types of gold ore

The types of gold ore are divided into different methods. According to the degree of oxidation of ore, it can be divided into primary (sulfide ore) ore, partially oxidized (mixed) ore and oxidized ore. The characteristic of oxidized ore is that the ore contains iron oxide and other metal oxide minerals as well as argillaceous (clay) components.

Sulfide-poor gold ore

This kind of ore is mostly quartz vein type, there are also complex quartz vein type and fine vein disseminated type, etc., with low sulfide content, mostly pyrite, and in some cases associated with copper, lead, zinc, tungsten, molybdenum, etc. mineral. The natural gold in this type of ores is relatively large in size, and gold is the only object to be recovered. Other elements or minerals have no industrial value or can only be recovered as by-products. A simple process such as single flotation or full mud cyanidation can be used to obtain higher sorting indexes.

Polysulfide gold ore

There are many pyrite or arsenopyrite in this type of ores, and they are also the objects of recycling like gold. The grade of gold is low, with little change. Natural gold particles are relatively small and are mostly wrapped in pyrite. It is generally easier to separate gold and sulfide by flotation; however, to separate gold and sulfide requires a complicated combined process of beneficiation and metallurgy, otherwise the gold recovery index will not be too high.

Gold-bearing polymetallic ore

In addition to gold, some of these ores contain several metal minerals such as copper, copper-lead, lead-zinc-silver, tungsten-antimony, etc., all of which have the value of individual mining. Its characteristics are: it contains a considerable amount of sulfide (10-20%); in addition to the close symbiosis with pyrite, most of natural gold closely symbiosis with copper, lead and other minerals; natural gold is unevenly embedded in thickness and has a long range of particle size changes. ; There are many types for comprehensive utilization. The above-mentioned characteristics determine that this type of ore generally needs to be sorted by a more complicated beneficiation process.

Telluride-bearing gold ores

Gold is still in the natural state of gold, but a considerable part of the gold is stored in the telluride of gold. The genesis of this type of ores are mostly low-temperature hydrothermal deposits, and the gangues are quartz, chalcedony quartz and carbonate minerals.

Gold-bearing copper ore

The difference between this type of ore and the third type of ore is that gold is of low grade, but it can be used as one of the main elements for comprehensive utilization. The natural gold in the ore has a medium grain size, and the symbiosis relationship between gold and other minerals is complicated. Most of the beneficiation concentrates gold in copper concentrates, and recovers gold during copper smelting.

Keywords:Gold ore beneficiation; gold ore flotation; gold separation and recovery; gold cyanidation; gold mining equipment