ENRICIEVIENT OF GOLD IN LOW GRADE COPPER MATTE FROM ARSENICAL REFRACTORY GOLD CONCENTRATE VIA MATTE SMELTING METHOD

To solve the problem of low leaching ratio of direct gold cyanide leaching from arsenical refractory gold concentrate, this paper proposed a matte smelting process for gold enrichment in low grade copper matte. The effects of copper content in the mixed material, ratio change in slag type, smelting temperature and reaction time on recovery rate of gold and copper were investigated. The experimental results indicated that the recovery rate of gold increased with the increase of copper content in the mixed materials, temperature and reaction time. It was also noted that the recovery rate of gold and copper were respectively 98.16% and 96.39% when the addition of copper content in the mixed material was 3%, slag type of CaO/SiO2 and FeO/SiO2 were 0.6 and 0.9 in 1250 degrees C and the time of reaction was 40min. Most of the arsenic was oxidized into As2O3 existed in the dust. The results showed that the matte smelting method can achieve efficient recovery of gold from arsenical refractory gold concentrate.