The Use of Cyanides in Gold Refineries and the Generation of Wastewater
CENTRAL ASIAN JOURNAL OF THEORETICAL & APPLIED SCIENCES, (2022)Abstract
The relevance of this article is due to the waste of cyanide in wastewater, its high cost and the need to dispose of it before disposal. Sodium cyanide is currently common for precious metals in ores and concentrates and is the only effective solvent in practice. The use of this reagent in the processing of ores containing gold and silver is explained by its ability to form soluble cyanide complexes with gold and silver. At the same time, non-precious metals form complexes with zinc, copper and iron. Thiocyanates are formed when cyanide solutions react with sulfide minerals. All this leads to an increase in cyanide consumption in the selective smelting of precious metals and the formation of wastewater containing highly toxic compounds.