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Valuable gold, copper, cobalt and nickel resources can host significant quantities of arsenic. For instance:
- The gold-arsenopyrite deposits of Red Lake, Yellowknife and Ashanti.
- The energite-tetrahedrite deposits of El Indio and El Pachon.
- The unconformity or vein related nickel-cobalt-arsenide ores of Key Lake, Jabiluka, Ranger or Cobalt.
Stringent environmental regulations require arsenic management programs meaning sustainable arsenic practices are critical for profitable operation.
METALLURGICAL TREATMENT OF ARSENIC CONTAINING PRODUCTS
SGS Minerals Services has successfully developed and completed numerous programs in which arsenic compounds have removed, rejected, recycled, fixed or detoxified. In doing so, we have resolved many of the difficult aspects of arsenic beneficiation, purification and stabilization. This experience has helped many companies on the road to profitable, sustainable operation and regulatory compliance.
With our metallurgical expertise in flow-sheet development, pilot plant operation and our fully equipped, accredited analytical, mineralogical and environmental laboratories, SGS Minerals Services has a wealth of experience for your project.
RECOVERY
- Production of marketable arsenic compounds
- Selective removal of arsenic minerals from impure compounds by flotation, re-leach/precipitation
- Crystallization of pure saleable sodium arsenate or copper arsenate.
- Volatilization of pure arsenic compounds by roasting or precipitation
RECYCLING
- Remediation of arsenic-containing materials
- Investigation of arsenic behavior during processing
- Selection of hazardous arsenic materials for in-process stabilization or concentration
FIXATION
- Production of stabilized arsenic compounds for safe disposal.
- Pressure or atmospheric leach technologies produce stable crystalline scorodite and/or ferric arsenate precipitates. Smelter dusts, copper refinery bleed solutions, refractory gold ores and Co-Ni-Zn arsenide ores are possible feeds.
- Cement- or bitumen-stabilized arsenic waste products can be safely disposed.
SELECTED INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE LIST
- El Indio (Barrick Gold Corp)
- Chuquicamata Refinery (CODELCO)
- Salsigne (France) (Mines de Salsigne)
- Giant Yellowknife (Giant Mines)
- Con Gold Mine (NERCO)
- Campbell Red Lake Gold Mine (Placer Dome Inc.)
- El Pachon (Cambior Inc.)
- Noranda Inc.
- Lihir Gold Mine (Kennecott)
- Olympias Gold Mine (TVX Hellas)
- Getchell Gold Operations (Placer Dome Inc.)
- Kwe Kwe Treatment Facility (Zimbabwe) (Fluor Daniel Wright)
- Ashanti (Ghana) (Ashanti Goldfields - Kilborn)
ARSENIC RELATED PUBLICATIONS
- 2001, Arsenides as a Potentially Increasing Source for the Cobalt Market, C.J. Ferron. Cobalt Conference, Toronto, Ontario.
- 2000, High Temperature Hydrometallurgy for Clean Processing, C.J. Ferron and S.W. Stogran. Clean Technologies for the Mining Conference
- 2000, Arsenic Fixation in Metallurgical Plant Effluent in the Form of Crystalline Scorodite via a Non-Autoclave Oxidation-Precipitation Process. Q. Wang, G.P. Demopoulos and G.B. Harris. Minor Elements 2000, Salt Lakes City, USA, 2000.
- 2000, Oxidative Precipitation for Arsenic Removal in Effluent Treatment. Q. Wang. T. Nishimura and Y. Umetsu. Minor Elements 2000, Salt Lake City, USA.
- 1999, Acid Pressure Leaching for the Treatment of Nickel Cobalt Feed Materials, C.J. Ferron and R. Swiniarski, Alta Nickel/Cobalt 1999 Conference, Perth, Australia.
- 1998, A Novel Hydrometallurgical Process for the Immobilization of Arsenic. Q. Wang and G.B. Demopolous. The Third International Conference on Hydrometallurgy, Kunming, China
- 1998 Novel Process for Arsenic Oxidation and Fixation. Q. Wang, G.P. Demopoulos and G.B. Harris. Paper presented at Waste Processing & Recycling III, Calgary, Canada
- 1996, Removal of Arsenic from Process Liquors by Oxidation of Iron(II) and Arsenic(III) & Sulfur(IV) by Oxygen. T. Nishimura, Q. Wang and Y. Umetsu. Iron Control & Disposal, Ottawa, Canada.
- 1992 Recovery of Gold from Refractory Zimbabwe Concentrates by Pressure Leaching, C.J. Ferron & C.A. Fleming, Randol 92, Vancouver, B. C.
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