Hello everyone... I'm starting a small mining op in June.and Im thinking about using the Cianide Leach process to dissolve Gold and Silver from Ore that have -100 size particles.. I think I'll use Electrolysis to refine Gold and silver from the leach solution.. how do I separate the Gold from the Silver and any other contaminants like Copper or any other metal. I'm thinking about doing 50 gallons minimum at a time. I'm new on this and would like to know what materials to use..like what container to use,what amps to use for that size batch..I'm thinking about using a gold Cathode since I want to have only gold since the beginning. but what is the best material to use for the Anode..and what additives to use if any on the pregnant solution to make the process more efficient.. I will only have 12V batteries as a source for electricity.. any input will be greatly appreciated... and promise to post pictures of any Gold we recover..thank you in advance.. God bless.
Electrolysis with only 12 volt batteries? I don't think so. Your power demands will most likely stress any battery set-up you get. You could use activated carbon (charcoal, usually from coconuts) to pull the gold from the cyanide solution and then burn the carbon to get the gold. However, that will get expensive since normally the carbon is reused in most leach systems using CIP (carbon in pulp).
For cyanide, you must keep the solution basic--pH of over 10 generally. Otherwise you generate HCN gas which is used in gas chambers!! You will want to recycle the cyanide solution also, just like the activated carbon. There is a fair amount of chemistry involved. You could destroy the pregnant cyanide solution with sodium thiosulfate, which will drop the gold. But that uses up both cyanide and thiosulfate; again, you have to consider the costs...and the waste solutions generated.
The cyanide will pull gold, silver, copper and other metais. Generally in a large operation, they use acid to dissolve the other metals and leave the gold behind. Big problem for a small miner to deal with the acids and the acid waste. Instead you could use an ion exchange column that pulls the gold preferentially to the other metals. How much other stuff (silver, copper, lead, zinc, etc.) do you have in your ore? Do you know yet?
When you strip the ion exchange column, you will still need to get the gold. Again, you can burn the column material, but other than as a small test, this will be expensive.
You can drop the gold from the cyanide solution using zinc (the Merrill-Crowe Process), but there are again drawbacks. First you have to remove the oxygen; second you drop all the metals in your ore, plus some zinc powder gets mixed in with the gold. At this point, most folks send the resulting metal sludge to a refinery. You still have zinc cyanide to reprocess to get your zinc and your cyanide back.
Maybe this helps some. Personally, I would go with the ion exchange column and then you need to figure out how to get the gold from the solution that you strip from the column. Activated carbon (charcoal) is cheaper up front, but more costly to reactivate than the ion exchange column. Both need some processing to get ready for your next run.
PVC is often used; you cannot use metal pipe (or containers) for obvious reasons. I have seen an electrolysis vat that used fiberglass and stainless I think it was, for both anode and cathode, which had steel spindles. Steel wool was put on the cathode stainless spindles. The gold deposited on the steel wool which then was smelted to recover the gold (the iron ended up in the slag on top). The cables to this vat were as big as your wrist; don't think 12 volt batteries will work.
HTH. Dave
