Patent attributes
A process for reducing arsenic content from arsenic-bearing gold concentrate or other arsenic-bearing gold materials to produce a low arsenic-bearing gold concentrate. The process may comprise adding oxygen, water, and/or acid to an acidulated arsenic-bearing gold concentrate slurry and reacting them together in an autoclave at an elevated pressure and temperature in a pressure oxidation step. In one or more examples, the process may further comprise processing the oxidized concentrate slurry in an arsenic re-dissolution step to dissolve unstable solid arsenic compounds, and applying a first solid/liquid separation and wash step to form a first washed slurry/solid and first acid-containing solutions. The process may further comprise reacting the first washed slurry/solid with sulfur dioxide in a reductive leach step, and applying a second solid/liquid separation and wash step to form a second washed slurry/solid and second acid-containing solutions. The second washed slurry/solid may be a low arsenic-bearing gold concentrate.
