Improvement of a treatment processes of high-clayey gold-bearing placers

Abstract

Characteristics of the placers with increased clayiness of gold-bearing bed and high content of fine and thin gold of the Far Eastern region, as well as technological approaches to processing, including the main process – disintegration, are analyzed. It is established that a reagentless gravitational working up based on generation of acoustic vibrations in fluid media is promising and requires its development. Energy-dispersive microanalysis by means of a scanning electron microscope, phase analysis using a diffractometer, as well as granulometric, dispersed and acoustic analyses have been applied to clay conglomerates selected at a high-clayey section of the deposit under consideration on the Malaya Nesterovka River in Primorskyi Krai. The presence of a wide range of noble metals, including gold and silver, rare earth and other elements was revealed. The data obtained on the composition and properties of clay conglomerates made it possible to determine the need for a more intensive process of the sand micro-disintegration to extract fine and thin particles of valuable components based on expanding the use of gravity technologies. It is noted that the known technologies would not ensure effective extraction of valuable components. A gravitational technology with cavitation reactors, which provide a power inputs reduction by several times in comparison with known devices, is proposed and validated. The hydrodynamic generator design is developed based on the concept of the fluid flow kinetic energy converting into the energy of hydroacoustic vibrations and jet streams of mineral hydromixtures in constrained conditions taking into account the similarity theory in modeling the cavitation processes. The proposed technology will reduce in-process losses of precious and other valuable metals, increase profitability and environmental safety in comparison with known processes.

A theoretical approach to disintegration equipment design for mineral raw materials

“…Extractability of fine and very fine gold by centrifugal concentration is investigated in the conditions of gold recovery [8,9]. With a view to assessing prospects for using energy deposition in ore pretreatment, it is attempted to analyze the known nonconventional methods of mineral processing which are targeted at enhanced disintegration of fine-dispersed granular aggregates and extraction of micro and nano particles of noble metals in the further hydrometallurgy and gravity processes [10,11].…”