DISSOLUTION KINETICS OF GOLD IN SYSTEM THIOUREA–THIOSULFATE WITH OXIDANT OF Fe(III)EDTA
Authors: Chursanov Yury V. , Lutsik Vladimir I. , Starovoytov Anatoly V. 
Published: December 2018

Cyanidation remains the predominant technology for the dissolution of gold from mineral raw materials. Environmental and technological disadvantages in the use of cyanides are the cause of the development of alternative systems, which include reagent-oxidant and reagent-complexant. A special place is occupied by the solvents, in which the formation of heteroligand complexes of gold is possible. Thus due to the formation of more durable compounds the rate of dissolution of the metal increases. In this work, as the ligands the thiourea and the ions of thiosulfate in the form of sodium salt were used, as the oxidant – complex of the iron (III) and EDTA. The influence of the mixed solvent composition on the kinetic characteristics and the reaction mechanism was studied by the rotating disc method. To confirm the role of different ligand complexes, the dependence of the dissolution rate of gold by the mixed system – thiosulphate and thiourea in the isomolar series, was determined. With a constant total ligands concentration, the molar ratio of reagents was changing. On the basis of the data obtained, a mathematical model of the process of oxidative dissolution of gold is proposed. A characteristic feature of the calculated results is a substantial increase in the reaction constants for the formation of heteroligand complexes, which confirms their role in the process of gold oxidation. The influence of pH and concentration of oxidant and ligand-forming substances on the kinetics of gold dissolution is established. To elucidate the mechanism of the limiting stage of the heterophase process, the experimental activation energy is calculated and the effect of the disk rotation frequency on the dissolution rate is studied. The experimental activation energy is 28.1 kJ/mol. The order by the disk rotation frequency is 0.35. Evaluation of the contribution of the diffusion and kinetic components of rate is estimated on the basis of the modified Levich equation for the mixed regime. Diffusion component of rate is almost an order of magnitude smaller than the kinetic one. Calculation of the diffusion flux of the supplied reagents showed that the only process that inhibits mass transfer is the diffusion of the reaction products from the surface of the rotating disc. The formation of more durable heteroligand complexes and a greater equilibrium constant of the oxidation reaction lead to an increase in the concentration of products at the surface and, consequently, to an increase in the rate of diffusion of the metal into the solution. An important factor affecting the oxidation of gold in the system studied is the formation of intermediate solid reaction products on the metal surface. To identify solid products, IR spectra of reflection of polished gold surface after etching in the system studied were obtained. A strong absorption band in the 808-762 cm-1 region is observed on the spectra. Absorption in this region is associated with valence symmetrical vibrations of the bond of the –C = S group adsorbed or chemically bound to the surface of the molecules of thiourea and its oxidation products. Depending on the composition of the solution and the temperature, the maximum of the peak shifts, and its intensity also changes. This can be explained by a change in the composition of the adsorbed compounds. The efficiency of regeneration of the oxidant Fe(III)EDTA by oxygen in thiourea-thiosulfate solution has been showed.