Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher ( dated 2012)

Refining of gold by the selective dissolution of

silver and copper from binary gold alloys
Kathryn C. Sole and Roger L. Paul
Council for Mineral Technology, Randburg

The selective dissolution of silver and copper from binary

gold alloys in nitric acid and iron(lll) sulphate solutions is
described. Silver and copper are completely dissolved from
the alloys in nitric acid under certain conditions, but only
copper is dissolved in the iron(lll) solution. Leaching results
are explained in terms of electrochemical observations.
Attempts to electrowin copper from nitric acid proved
unsuccessful. The application of the results to a possible
hydrometallurgical route for the refining of gold is also
discussed.
S. Afr. J. Chern., 1986,39,101-107

Die selektiewe oplossing van silwer en koper uit binere

goudlegerings in salpetersuur en yster(lII)sulfaatoplossings
word beskryf. Silwer en koper word onder sekere
omstandighede in salpetersuur heeltemal uit die legerings
opgelos, maar slegs koper word in the yster(lII)oplossing
opgelos. Die loogresultate word in terme van elektrochemiese
iNaarnemings verduidelik. Pogings om die koper deur elektroekstraksie uit salpetersuur te herwin, het nie geslaag nie. Die
toepassing van die resultate op 'n moontlike hidrometallurgiese
roete vir die raffinering van goud word ook bespreek.
S.-Afr. Tydskr. Chern., 1986,39,101-107

K.C. Sole and R.L. Paul

Council for Mineral Technology,
Private Bag X3015, Randburg 2125, Republic of South Africa
*To whom correspondence should be addressed
Received 11 December 1985

In South Africa, the present commercial method for the

refining of raw gold bullion is the Miller or chlorine
process. I, 2 Chlorine gas is blown into the molten bullion;
volatile silver and base-metal chlorides are formed and
subsequently recovered from the furnace off-gases. The
gold resulting from this stage has a purity of 99,6%. The
bulk of this gold is poured into bars and is used as the basis of
the world monetary system. The remaining gold is cast into
anodes, which are then further refined by an electrolytic
process to produce gold of 99,99% purity. This gold is used
for the manufacture of Krugerrands and for various industrial
purposes.
Certain difficulties are inherent in this pyrometallurgical
process; the recovery of silver and small amounts of gold
from base-metal chlorides is not easy, platinum-group
metals like osmium and iridium cannot be removed, and
certain environmental hazards are involved. Any potential
new processes are therefore always of interest. A process
that has been proposed is a hydrometallurgical route based
on the traditional technique of 'parting' .
Parting involves the formation of a silver-gold alloy that
is leached in acid to dissolve the silver. This leaves a finelydivided, high-purity gold residue, which can then be melted
down. The determination of gold by parting is one of the
earliest known processes, purities of 99,8% being achieved
as early as 700 B.C., while the first commercial use of this
technique was recorded in the fourteenth century. 2 Parting
was the basis of refining in most European and American
refineries before the chlorine and electrolytic processes were
developed, and has been widely used in South Africa
throughout this century for the assay of gold ore and bullion.
The critical ratio for good parting is quoted variously as
60-75% silver. I ,21t is well established that, if the sample to
be analysed has a gold content higher thaI). 25%, more silver
must be added to the system to bring the silver-to-gold ratio
up to 2,5-3. If the silver content is much higher than 75%,
however, the gold will break up in the acid to a fine powder,
which makes recovery more difficult. Traditionally, sulphuric
acid or nitric acid is used for leaching. For the assay of
unrefined gold, the sample is usually in the form of small
beads that are pressed out to a thinness of 0,25 mm. Boiling
for 20-30 min in 8M-nitric acid2 is then sufficient to
produce gold of a purity of 99,7-99,8%. For the assay of
refined gold, the conditions are considerably more severe,
batch leaching totalling 10 h in boiling 8M-15M-acid
being recommended, 2 although 8M-nitric acid at 80C has

Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher ( dated 2012)

S.-Afr. Tydskr. Chern., 1986,39(2)

102
also been used. 1 Copper has also been used as the alloying
metal for parting, but to a much lesser extent.
A simplified flow-sheet for the refining of bullion based
upon parting is shown in Figure 1. Raw bullion, containing
typically 85% gold, 10% silver, and 5% base-metal impurities, is alloyed with silver at a mass ratio of 1:2. The
granulated alloy is leached in 25% nitric acid at elevated
temperature, whereupon the silver and base metals should
dissolve and leave gold of 99,9% purity. The silver is
reclaimed by electrowinning, and nitric acid is regenerated
from the leaching and electrowinning stages.
The aims of the present work were the assessment, on a
laboratory scale, of the feasibility of this process and the
investigation of the possible use of a more economical and
efficient alloying metal and lixiviant. This paper reports on
the selective dissolution of silver and copper from binary
gold alloys in nitric acid and iron (III) sulphate electrolytes
by the use of leaching and electrochemical experimental
techniques. The electrowinning of copper from nitric acid is
also discussed. The selective dissolution of silver from
silver-gold alloys has been previously reported in nitric
acid,3 sulphuric acid,2 and chloride and sulphide solutions,4
and of copper from copper-gold alloys in aqua regia,S
sulphuric acid,6, 7 and a mixture of strong acids. 8

Mass/%
Alloy

Gold

Base"

Ag:Au=0,5
Ag:Au= 1
Ag:Au=2
Ag:Au=2Q
Cu:Au=0,5
Cu:Au= 1
Cu:Au=2
Cu:Au=2Q

68,7
55,1
34,9
34,9
70,3
49,3
29,5
29,7

31,3
44,9
65,1
65,1
29,7
50,7
70,5
70,2

AgorCu.

ordering at 65% silver by mass has been recognizedlO). As

expected, these alloys were found to be homogeneous.
Phase diagrams for copper-gold alloys9, 10 show, in addition
to the solid solution, the presence of 'Cu3Au', 'CuAu', and
'CuAu3' phases, depending on the relative concentrations of
the two metals. Although no phase boundaries could be
discerned in the SEM studies, an extensive metallographic
investigation would be required to confirm the absence of
small amounts of other phases.
Voltammetric experiments

Ag
Raw Bullion:
Au
85"70
Ag
Fe,Ni,Cu

Table 1 Composition of the alloys

1O"70----I~L_~~~__.Jc.,---_,
5"70
HNO,

Ag

Ag

Figure 1 Simplified proposed flow chart for the hydrometallurgical

refining of gold.

Experimental
Preparation of the alloys

Weighed amounts of the metals were melted in a sealed-off

quartz tube under vacuum in an oxy-acetylene flame and
allowed sufficient time to mix completely. The alloys were
usually slowly air-cooled to room temperatur~, but some
alloys, labelled 'Q', were quenched from the molten state by
plunging the quartz tube into a freezing mixture. Each alloy
was sliced with a metallurgical wire-saw, a slurry of alumina,
water, and glycerol being used as the lubricant. This gave
pieces of about 200 mg for use in the leaching experiments,
and a larger piece from which an electrode was made. The
compositions of the alloys (in mass percentages) are given in
Table 1.
A cursory study was undertaken to confirm the macroscopic homogeneity of the alloys. Each alloy was examined
for homogeneity by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
Silver-gold alloys are usually considered to be free from
transformations in the solid state under all relative concentrations of the two metals9 (although evidence of some

Voltammetric experiments were carried out using rotatingdisc electrodes of the various alloys. The instrumentation
used was built in the laboratories of the Council for Mineral
Technology (Mintek) and comprised a potentiostat, a sweep
generator, a speed controller, and a three-electrode Metrohm
cell. Interchangeable working electrodes were constructed
by sealing each alloy in an Araldite M epoxy-resin sheath that
could be screwed into a Teflon-coated holder and fitted to
the rotating-disc assembly. The electrodes were polished on
1000-grit carborundum paper between experiments. Potentials were measured relative to the saturated calomel
electrode, but are quoted on the hydrogen scale in this
paper. All experiments were carried out with the disc
electrode rotating at 500 r min -I and at ambient temperature,
unless otherwise stated.
Anodic voltammograms of the silver alloys (0,15-1,45 V)
and copper alloys (-0,45-0,75 V) were recorded at a
sweep rate of 10 mV S-1 in M-HCI0 4. Because KCI0 4 is
insoluble, use was made of a sodium chloride salt bridge
between the Luggin capillary and the reference electrode.
The curves obtained represent the dissolution currents for
oxidation that is due only to the applied potential, independent of the electrolyte. For determination of the corrosion
potentials, Ee, of the alloys in different electrolytes, the
electrode potential was monitored until a steady value was
obtained (3-5 min was usually required). The magnitude
of the corrosion or dissolution current at this measured
potential was then determined directly from the anodic
curve.
Leaching experiments

Samples of each alloy (ca 200 mg) were leached with

electrolyte (500 ml) in a covered 1-1 beaker on a hot-plate
for 7,5 h. The solutions were gently agitated by magnetic
stirring. Temperature drifts of 2C occurred. The progress
of the reaction was monitored by sampling of the leach
liquor at regular intervals. Each sample was allowed to cool,

Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher ( dated 2012)

s. Afr. 1. Chern., 1986,39(2)

103

after which 2 ml was removed and analysed for its dissolvedmetal content by atomic absorption spectrophotometry
(AAS). The remaining sample was returned to the leaching
vessel.
Leaching efficiency is defined as the ratio of the amount of
soluble metal leached to the total amount of that metal in the
alloy expressed as a percentage. The leaching efficiency for
each run was calculated (i) directly frpm the loss in mass of
the alloy during leaching, (ii) from analysis of the final leach
liquor, and (iii) from analysis of the solid residue. The
leaching efficiencies quoted are the mean of three values;
gold purity figures are based on analysis of the solid residue.

Materials and reagents

Metals used in the preparation of the alloys were of
spectrographic quality. All solutions we~e made up with
analytical-grade reagents in purified water with a conductivity below 10- 5 S m- I .
Results and Discussion
Voltammetric experiments

The curves of anodic current vs potential for the dissolution

of silver from three silver-gold alloys in M-perchloric acid
are shown in Figure 2. The curves illustrate that the
dissolution rate of silver is retarded as the silver-to-gold ratio
in the alloy decreases. The corrosion potentials measured
when the alloys were immersed in 2M-, 5M-, and 8M-nitric
acid at 18C are indicated below the potential axis. The
anodic currents corresponding to the measured corrosion
potentials may be assumed to be reasonably close to the
actual corrosion currents in the nitric acid. If a commercial
process is to be developed, leaching rates equivalent to a
current density of 10 rnA cm- 2 or greater should be
achieved. The curves and corrosion potentials in Figure 2

indicate that a silver-to-gold ratio of 2 and an acid concentration of 8M are necessary.

An analogous study of the copper-gold alloys (Figure 3)
reveals a similar pattern. In 2M-nitric acid, none ofthe alloys
corrode significantly. In 5M- and 8M-nitric acid, the copper
in alloys with copper-to-gold ratios of ~ and 2 is leached
rapidly, but the alloy with a copper-to-gold ratio of 0,5
remains unaffected.
For investigation of the effect of increasing temperature,
the above experiments were repeated in a cell in which the
temperature of the electrolyte was maintained at 50C by
means of a water-jacket. The corrosion potentials were
unchanged, but the anodic scans were found to shift
cathodically by 0,01 V. This implies larger dissolution
currents at E c ' and hence faster kinetics.
The effect of quenching on the leaching characteristics of
the alloys was investigated by the use of electrodes made of
the alloys Ag:Au = 20 and Cu:Au = 20. The anodic scans
and the corrosion potentials were found to shift cathodically
by 0,01 V, indicating an enhanced rate of leaching for these
alloys.
The requirements for an alternative electrolyte were that
it should be relatively inexpensive, readily regenerated, and
able to leach copper and silver at a rate equivalent to at least
10 rnA cm- 2 . An iron (III) electrolyte was investigated.
The leaching characteristics of 8M-nitric acid and the
iron (III) electrolyte are compared in Figure 4. The iron(III)
electrolyte contained M-iron(III) sulphate and 0,5M-sulphuric
acid (to prevent the fonnation of iron (III) hydroxide).
Although the silver alloy leached rapidly in nitric acid, the
corrosion current in the iron(III) electrolyte was negligible.
In contrast, the copper alloy corroded actively in both
electrolytes.

- . - Ag:Au=O,5
. Ag:Au = I
---Ag:Au=2

30

_ . - . - Cu:Au=O,5
Cu:Au= I
- - - - Cu:Au=2

11
20

10

........
-0,5

._.....j

D,S

I,D

Elv

t J.---

-D,S

I,D

D,S

EIV
2M HNO,

1[ __ -SM HNO,--L

11

8M HNO,--

Corrosion potentials

Figure 2 The anodic dissolution currents of silver from silver-gold

alloys as a function of the true anodic potential (M-HCl0 4 ) at 18C.
The potentials at which corrosion occurs in nitric acid are shown below
the figure.

~t
~+-tL. -- -'-'-- -

T_L

--

-2MHNO,

-.r- - 5 M HNO,
~

- 8 M HNO,

Corrosion potentials

Figure 3 The anodic dissolution currents of copper from copper -gold

alloys as a function of the true anodic potential (M-HCl0 4 ). The
potentials at which corrosion occurs in nitric acid are shown below the
figure.

S.-Afr. Tydskr. Chern., 1986, 39(2)

104

Table2 Results of leaching tests in nitric acid

Temp.

30

Cu:Au=2Q

--~
E

Gold
purity

Alloy

Ag:Au=0,5

80
60

5
8

0,05
0,08

70,8
71,7

Ag:Au= 1

60
70
60
60

5
5
2
8

2,4
6,4
0,8
4,9

53,9
56,6
53,8
55,6

Ag:Au=2

60
70
80
60
60

5
5
5
2
8

57,3
91,9
98,2
4,7
99,9

58,2
91,7
94,7
45,7
99,8

Ag:Au=2Q

80
60

5
8

99,8
99,6

99,9
99,7

Cu:Au=0,5

80
60

0,7
1,8

68,6
68,8

Cu:Au= 1

60
70
80
60
60

5
5
5
2
8

38,3
29,4
60,0
47,6
34,9

64,2
60,2
62,9
70,5
62,9

Cu:Au=2

60
70
80
60
60

5
5
5
2
8

97,8
97,7
99,9
15,9
99,8

99,8
99,6
99,8
38,1
99,1

Cu:Au=2Q

80
60

5
8

99,9
99,9

99,9
99,9

!~Ag:AU=2Q

20

Leaching
efficiency

B
u

ii
o
c

\0

..

.....

............
-0,5

EIV

0,5

L_L!
~--~.

1,0

-1M Fe,(SO,h
-8MHNO,

Corrosion potentials

Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher ( dated 2012)

Figure 4 Comparison of the leaching currents for quenched 2: 1 silvergold and copper-gold alloys at 18C in iron(III) sulphate and nitric
acid electrolytes, The anodic currents are plotted as a function of the
true anodic potential in M-HCl0 4 at 500 r rnin- 1 ,

Leaching experiments

A summary of the results for leaching of the different alloys

in nitric acid is given in Table 2, which indicates that only the
alloys with a silver-to-gold ratio of 2 show good leaching
characteristics, and then only under more severe conditions.
These results are in good agreement with the electrochemical
predictions, and confirm the empirically determined conditions for optimum parting discussed earlier.
Figure 5 shows the kinetic profiles as a function of nitric
acid concentration for the leaching of the alloy Ag:Au = 2.
The corresponding results for copper are shown in Figure 6.
As the acid concentration is increased, the rate and efficiency
of leaching both increase. Complete extraction occurs in
8M-acid for both alloys. The most significant feature observed in a comparison of the figures is the marked kinetic
improvement when copper is used as the alloying metal.
The effect of temperature on the leaching characteristics
ofthe alloy Ag:Au = 2isshowninFigure 7. As expected, an
increase in temperature results in improved extraction and a
faster leaching rate. Similar results are observed for the
copper system except that extraction is complete after 2 h.
The effect of quenching is shown for the silver alloys in
Figure 8. Quenching is seen to result in superior leaching
efficiency and enhanced kinetics. Comparable results are
observed for the copper alloys.
Figure 9 compares the leaching of the quenched 2: 1 copper
alloys in nitric acid and in iron(III) sulphate. The alternative
electrolyte is kinetically inferior, although the overall extraction is the same as that for 8M-nitric acid, and gold of a
purity of 99,9% is obtained. As predicted from the voltammetric experiments, silver is not leached at all in this
electrolyte. As unrefined gold has silver and iron as its major
impurities, 2:1 copper-gold alloys were prepared in which

... 2M HNO J
5M HNO,
8M HNO,

100

80

'$-

--

60

11
.c
u

40

20

o~~--~~~~~~==~
o

Time/h

Figure 5 Effect of nitric acid concentration on the leaching rate of the

2:1 silver-gold alloy at 60C.

Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher ( dated 2012)

s. Afr. J. Chern., 1986,39(2)

105

100

100

80

80

60

-s-

..c:'"
u

'"

-s-

A 2M HNO,
5M HNO,
8M HNO,

"0

..c:
'"
u

'"

~
00

40

A Ag:Au=2
Ag:Au=2Q

60

"0

<

20

40

20

O~-------r-------.-------'-------'

4
Time/h

Figure 6 Effect of nitric acid concentration on the leaching rate of the

2:1 copper-gold alloy at 600 e.

100

4
Time/h

Figure 8 Effect of quenching on the rate of leaching of the 2: 1 silvergold alloy in 8M-HN0 3 at 600 e.

60C

100

A 70C

80C
80

-s-

80

!..

60

"0

..c:
'"u

'"

~
00

<

60

"0

..c:
'"
u

40

40
. 8 M HNO, at 60C
I M Fe,(S04j" 0,5 M H,SO, at 90C

20

20

O~-------r------~------_.------~

Time/h

04L-------r------~------_.------_.

4
Time/h

Figure 7 Effect of temperature on the rate of leaching of the 2:1

silver-gold alloy in 5M-HN0 3 .

Figure 9 Effect of an alternative leaching solution on the leaching of

the quenched 2:1 copper-gold alloy.

about 5% of the gold was replaced by silver and iron. These

were leached in the iron (III) electrolyte. It was found that,
although the copper was leached to virtual completion as
before, only about 90% of the iron and none of the silver
dissolved. Iron(III) sulphate is therefore unsuitable as a
lixiviant in this process.
The extent to which silver and copper are leached in
iron(III) sulphate electrolytes is readily explained by the
standard reduction potentials for the reactions

explanation for the strong effect of the ratio of the silver or

copper to the gold on the rates of dissolution (Figures 2 and
3) in nitric acid. The marked positive shift in the currentpotential curve when the ratio of the alloying metal to the gold
is reduced cannot be explained in terms of the thermodynamics alone. Other factors, like the physical structure of the
alloy, must playa significant part in the mechanism. It has been
suggested l l that the atomic disorder in the metal lattice of
the silver-gold alloys is ata maximum at a gold concentration of about 30% (a silver-to-gold ratio of just over 2).
Quenching of the alloys may enhance the disorder, which
may explain the higher rates of leaching of the quenched
alloys. However, this explanation is too vague to be
satisfactory .

Fe3+

+e

Fe2+

Cu2+ +2e ~ Cu

Ai++e

~ Ag

= 0,68 V
EO = 0,34 V

EO

EO

= 0,80V.

Quite simply, iron (III) ions cannot oxidize silver in sulphate

electrolytes. However, there does not appear to be a simple

Electrowinning experiments

From the economic and kinetic points of view, copper

Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher ( dated 2012)

S.-Afr. Tydskr. Chern., 1986, 39(2)

106
appears to be superior to silver as an alloying metal in this
process. However, in a closed-circuit process, it would be
necessary for the copper to be reclaimed from the leach
liquor. Therefore an investigation was carried out on the
electrowinning of copper from nitrate solution.
The standard potential EO for silver deposition is 0,80 V,
whereas that for copper deposition is 0,34 V. The nitric acid
corrosion potentials in Figure 2 indicate that silver should be
deposited readily from these electrolytes. However, Figure
3 indicates that, in concentrated nitric acid, the nitrate ion
may be preferentially reduced. This was investigated by a
galvanostatic technique in which nitrate electrolytes and a
rotating-disc electrode of pure gold were used. Copper was
plated at various current densities for a given time interval.
The current was then reversed and the copper was oxidized
at the same current density. As soon as all the copper had
been stripped from the electrode, oxygen evolution occurred,
resulting in a sharp increase in voltage. Hence, the current
efficiency for the plating of copper can be determined from
the ratio of the time taken for stripping of the electrode to
the time taken for deposition of the metal. The results are
shown in Table 3.
Similar experiments at 50C showed that the current
efficiency deteriorates considerably at higher temperatures.
At that stage, an interesting insight into the mechanism of
nitrate reduction was gained. The previous experiments
were repeated, the copper being plated onto the gold
electrode rotating at 500 r min -I, and stripped under
stationary conditions. The results are shown in Table 4.
In 5M-nitric acid, the apparent current density drops

Table3 Current efficiencies for the plating of copper

from nitric acid at room temperature
Current efficiency (%)
for plating times of

Current
density
Am- 2

Electrolyte

120s

240s

100
200
300

2M-HN0 3
M-Cu(N0 3 h

46,6
85,6
89,6

46,1
80,0
90,1

100
200
300

5M-HN03
M-Cu(N0 3 h

69,7
82,7
89,6

69,1
85,1
90,1

Table4 Effect of rotation speed on the apparent current

efficiency for the plating of copper from nitric acid a
Rotation speed
during stripping
rmin- I

Apparent current
efficiency
Electrolyte

500
100
0

5M-HN03
M-Cu(N0 3 h

85,1
83,3
15,3

500
0

2M-HN0 3
M-Cu(N03 )2

80,0
91,3

Conditions: rotation speed during plating, 500 r min-I; current

density, 200 A m - 2 ; plating time 240 s.

considerably when the electrode rotates at less than 100 r

min-I. This is not observed in 2M-nitric acid. As the same
amount of copper was plated each time, this suggests that,
under stationary conditions, the oxidizing power of the
electrolyte is considerably enhanced.
So that this system could be investigated in a more realistic
situation, a simple voltaic cell was set up, using two copper
electrodes in an electrolyte of M-copper(U) nitrate and
3M-nitric acid. A current of 200 A m- 2 was passed for
2 h, and the change in mass of the electrodes was monitored.
In stationary as well as rapidly stirred electrolytes, both
electrodes were found to corrode actively, and no plating of
copper occurred at all.
It is well established 12 that, in concentrated acid solutions,
the reduction of nitric acid is autocatalytic and strongly
dependent on the presence of nitrous acid. The evolution of
nitric oxide in concentrated nitric acid has also been observed
repeatedly. Measurements on a rotating platinum electrode
under potentiostatic conditions have shown l2 that the cathodic current for the reduction of nitric acid or the nitrate ion is
kinetically controlled and independent of the rotation speed
at [HN03 1< 2M. Schmid et al.13, 14 formulated a mechanism
for the reduction of nitric to nitrous acid and also found an
'inverted stirring dependence' of this first cathodic reduction
step. They explain this in terms of an autocatalytic homogeneous reaction in the diffusion layer between nitric acid
and nitric oxide supplied by the cathode.
On the basis of the brief study of the phenomenon in the
present system, it appears that the reduction of nitric acid is
a multistep process. It is tentatively suggested that a slow
first step produces an intermediate (probably HN0 2 ) , which
is either a strong oxidant itself or catalyses the further
reduction of nitric acid. Under stationary conditions, the
accumulation of this species at the electrode surface enhances
the corrosion of copper, resulting in apparently low current
efficiencies. When conditions of sufficient convection exist,
this species is swept away from the electrode, and high
current efficiencies are recorded.
Although copper is superior to silver as an alloying metal
in this process from the economic and kinetic points of view,
complications arise in the recycling circuit since the metal
cannot be electrowon from nitrate solution. An alternative
route for the regeneration of copper could be considered,
but that is beyond the scope of the present work.

Conclusions
The optimum conditions for the parting of silver-gold and
copper-gold alloys in nitric acid by leaching have been confirmed, and the results have been explained in terms of
electrochemical observations. Under the test conditions
studied, gold of a purity 99,9% can be obtained by the
parting of quenched 2:1 silver-gold or copper-gold alloys
in concentrated nitric acid at elevated temperatures.
As a route for the refining of gold, the use of copper as an
alternative alloying material and of iron(UI) sulphate as an
alternative lixiviant have been found to be unsatisfactory. A
further disadvantage of this route is that the raw bullion
must be free from common base-metal impurities like tin,
arsenic, and antimony, since these are insoluble in nitric
acid. Platinum-group metals like osmium and iridium are
also not removed by this process. As a hydrometallurgical
process for the refining of gold, this route presents considerable problems, and its viability from the economic and

Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher ( dated 2012)

S. Afr. J. Chern., 1986,39(2)

practical points of view is questionable at this stage.

Acknowledgement

This paper is published by permission of the Council for

Mineral Technology.
References
1 R.J. Adamson, 'Gold Metallurgy in South Africa', Chamber of
Mines of South Africa, Johannesburg, 1972.
2 T.K. Rose and W.A.c. Newman, 'The Metallurgy of Gold', 7th
Edn, Charles Griffin and Co. Ltd, London, 1937.
3 L.L. Schreir, 'Corrosion', Vol. 1, Newnes-Butterworths,
London, 1976, p.167.
4 G. Hultquist and H. Hero, Carras. Sci., 1984,24,789.
5 L. Graf and Z. Budke, Metallkunde, 1955,46,378.
6 H.W. Pickering and C. Wagner,!. Electrochern. Soc., 1967, 114,

107
698.
7 H.W. Pickering and P.J. Byrne, 1. Electrochern. Soc., 1971, 118,
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