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Electrochemical recovery of silver from cyanide leaching solutions

Electrochemical recovery of silver from cyanide leaching solutions
Electrochemical recovery of silver from cyanide leaching solutions
In the hydrometallurgy industry cyanide solutions are the most common leaching baths used during the extraction of metals such as silver and gold. After extraction, the solution containing various cyanide species, and usually copper cyanide, has a higher concentration than the gold and silver complexes. Higher concentration of copper species may interfere during the selective recovery of precious metals. This work presents a study of the selective recovery of silver from leaching solutions mimicking those used in industry. Chemical speciation and cyclic voltammetry studies showed that copper reduction occurs at more negative potentials than silver in the cyanide leaching solutions. The cyclic voltammetry of cyanide solutions on a vitreous carbon electrode showed that copper cyanide ions modify the interface properties, lowering the overpotential required for silver reduction. A macroelectrolysis study of a simulated leaching solution (10–4 M Ag(I), 0.1 M Cu(I) in 0.5 M CN– at pH 10), was carried out in a filter press electrochemical reactor (ElectroCell AB) with a reticulated vitreous carbon electrode (RVC), nominally having 45 pores per inch and a flow rate of 5 cm3 s–1 at 25 °C. The study showed that the high copper concentration does not interfere in the selective deposition of silver.
copper cyanide complexes - cross-flow reactor - cyanide leaching - electrochemical recovery - RVC electrode - silver cyanide complexes
473-479
Reyes Cruz, Victor
827de3b9-7c80-412b-97cd-98993cf81dfe
Oropeza, Mercedes
5d06b238-d456-4f3c-a18c-3c4692c315dc
González, Ignacio
678311f4-6b38-4322-a9af-665c575cfec7
Ponce de Leon, Carlos
508a312e-75ff-4bcb-9151-dacc424d755c
Reyes Cruz, Victor
827de3b9-7c80-412b-97cd-98993cf81dfe
Oropeza, Mercedes
5d06b238-d456-4f3c-a18c-3c4692c315dc
González, Ignacio
678311f4-6b38-4322-a9af-665c575cfec7
Ponce de Leon, Carlos
508a312e-75ff-4bcb-9151-dacc424d755c

Reyes Cruz, Victor, Oropeza, Mercedes, González, Ignacio and Ponce de Leon, Carlos (2002) Electrochemical recovery of silver from cyanide leaching solutions. Journal of Applied Electrochemistry, 32 (5), 473-479. (doi:10.1023/A:1016529314840).

Record type: Article

Abstract

In the hydrometallurgy industry cyanide solutions are the most common leaching baths used during the extraction of metals such as silver and gold. After extraction, the solution containing various cyanide species, and usually copper cyanide, has a higher concentration than the gold and silver complexes. Higher concentration of copper species may interfere during the selective recovery of precious metals. This work presents a study of the selective recovery of silver from leaching solutions mimicking those used in industry. Chemical speciation and cyclic voltammetry studies showed that copper reduction occurs at more negative potentials than silver in the cyanide leaching solutions. The cyclic voltammetry of cyanide solutions on a vitreous carbon electrode showed that copper cyanide ions modify the interface properties, lowering the overpotential required for silver reduction. A macroelectrolysis study of a simulated leaching solution (10–4 M Ag(I), 0.1 M Cu(I) in 0.5 M CN– at pH 10), was carried out in a filter press electrochemical reactor (ElectroCell AB) with a reticulated vitreous carbon electrode (RVC), nominally having 45 pores per inch and a flow rate of 5 cm3 s–1 at 25 °C. The study showed that the high copper concentration does not interfere in the selective deposition of silver.

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More information

Submitted date: 27 July 2001
Published date: May 2002
Keywords: copper cyanide complexes - cross-flow reactor - cyanide leaching - electrochemical recovery - RVC electrode - silver cyanide complexes
Organisations: Engineering Mats & Surface Engineerg Gp

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 54609
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/54609
PURE UUID: c46cf317-fe18-438c-b6a7-a59a807356c8
ORCID for Carlos Ponce de Leon: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1907-5913

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 24 Jul 2008
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:43

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Contributors

Author: Victor Reyes Cruz
Author: Mercedes Oropeza
Author: Ignacio González

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