Gold Treatment Techniques

These techniques as well as some other procedures of preparation are described, and the possibilities and the limits of their application are shown. This informative resume brings us to consider a certain number of criteria allowing us to portray a mineral of gold. Gold mineralogy of the bargain of the associated sulfurs and dimensions of gold etc. throughout a number of years, gold has aroused the interest of men that have utilized this metal with monetary purposes or for purposes of decoration in many occasions. Gold is in effect one of the oldest known of and exploited metals. Its rareness and inalterability have made out of it a sought after substance whose price, in relation to al the other mineral substances, has always been relatively high. The regular increase of the production costs have determined, for a great number of years, the interest that exists in its exploitation and has lead little by little to the closing of a great number of mines and a diminishing of prospecting and mineralogical investigations. In 1968 the price of gold came to be free and since then it has not stopped progressing regularly despite the fact that there have been some fluctuations. A new interest for the yellow metal has been manifested due to the increase of prospecting that is occurring these days and due to the increase of investigations about the treatment procedures both old and new. While it is true that lixiviation by that of cyanide will always be the base procedure for the treatment of gold minerals, new techniques have showed up, others have been abandoned little by little, and the new procedures and reactive ones are appearing. One synthetic exposition of the techniques that are used in mineralogy of gold that can be seen is therefore resulting to be very useful. In this part though we will limit ourselves though to the treatment of minerals in which gold represents the main recoverable value. We cannot forget that one important part of the gold that can be found in the world comes from treatment of base metal concentrations, of which it is recovered as a by-product. The main and general principles exposed will be illustrated by the description of the schemes of the industrial treatment.