🔥Fine grinding the tailings significantly increases gold recovery during smelting.
⚒️Direct smelting involves melting the tailings with borax to create a slag and potentially recover gold.
💡The acidic and matte phases of the slag are separated to evaluate the presence of gold.
📉Less than 0.1 grams of gold is recovered per 5 kilograms of tailings, indicating low overall gold content.
🚜Maximizing recovery from tailings is important for efficient and sustainable mining operations.
How is direct smelting different from other gold extraction methods?
—Direct smelting involves melting the tailings directly with borax, allowing for the potential recovery of gold. Other methods involve using chemicals or complex processes to extract gold.
What is the purpose of fine grinding the tailings before smelting?
—Fine grinding increases the surface area of the tailings, allowing for better contact with the borax during smelting. This enhances gold recovery.
What is the significance of separating the slag into acidic and matte phases?
—The separation of the slag allows us to evaluate the presence of gold in the matte phase. The matte may contain gold and other precious metals.
Is the gold recovery rate in this process considered high?
—No, the gold recovery rate in this process is relatively low, with less than 0.1 grams of gold recovered per 5 kilograms of tailings. This indicates a low overall gold content in the tailings.
Why is maximizing gold recovery from tailings important?
—Maximizing gold recovery from tailings is important for efficient and sustainable mining operations. It allows for the extraction of additional value from waste materials and reduces environmental impacts.
00:00Introduction to direct smelting of gold from tailings.
17:20Explanation of the direct smelting setup and process.
24:02Cupel process to refine the gold bead and remove base metals.
25:53Weighing and analysis of the refined gold bead.
