Comprehensive recovery of gold and base-metal sulfide minerals from a low-grade refractory ore

The comprehensive recovery of small amounts of valuable minerals such as gold and base-metal sulfide minerals from a low-grade refractory ore was investigated. The following treatment strategy was applied to a sample of this ore： gold flotation-gold concen- trate leaching-lead and zinc flotation from the gold concentrate leaching residue. Closed-circuit trials of gold flotation yielded a gold concen- trate that assayed at 40.23 g·t-1 Au with a recovery of 86.25%. The gold concentrate leaching rate was 98.76%. Two variants of lead-zinc flotation from the residue--preferential flotation of lead and zinc and bulk flotation of lead and zinc--were tested using the middling processing method. Foam from the reflotation was returned to the lead rougher flotation or lead-zinc bulk flotation, whereas middlings from reflotation were discarded. Sulfur concentrate was a byproduct. The combined strategy of flotation, leaching, and flotation is recommended for the treatment of this kind of ore.