Cyanidation of Tailings of an Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining at Arbaat Region in Red Sea State, Sudan

Abstract

In this study, the leaching of gold from an artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM) tailings in the Arbaat region of Sudan was investigated by agitated cyanide leaching, considering the parameters stirring speed, NaCN concentration, solid-liquid ratio, temperature and pH. The characterization studies showed that the tailings sample mainly formed from silicate minerals and the sample contained 77.10% SiO2, 8.08% Al2O3, 5.76% Fe2O3, 1.67% CaO, 1.10% Na2O, 0.97% K2O and 4.366% loss on ignition. The results of leaching studies indicated that gold dissolution decreases with increasing solid ratio. Furthermore, the gold leaching positively influenced by the NaCN concentration in the range of 0.05-0.50 g/L and by the pH in the range of 10.00-10.30. However, at pH values greater than 10.30, the gold leaching decreased. The temperature and stirring speed also affected gold leaching in different ways. The leaching studies revealed that it is very simple to apply the cyanide leaching to the tailings and a gold recovery value of 87.5% could easily be reached. Commercially, this study reported an economically feasible process for gold recovery from an artisanal small-scale gold mining tailings in Arbaat. © 2023 Chamber of Mining Engineers of Turkey. All rights reserved.