TOPIC : IMPROVEMENT OF GOLD ADSORPTION BY CARBON ACTIVITY

AIM

To achieve maximum recovery of gold from ore by using coarse carbon that will adsorb all the
gold in the Carbon In Pulp tanks.

HYPOTHESIS

The carbon in pulp plant fails to dissolve and extract the large particles of free gold, hence an
increase in the tails and loss of gold to the slimes dam. The carbon in leach plant management is
the backbone, since all the gold that escapes the gravity concentration machines gravitates to
the leach plant. This means that the gold is to be extracted by carbon adsorption, hence poor
management of the carbon in pulp section will result in the loss of the gold to the slimes dam.

This could be due to the loss of carbon in the CIP plant and poor control of the parameters that
can affect the adsorption of gold onto the activated carbon like carbon retention time,
poisoning or contamination.

The plant is being forced to move the carbon upstream before the required retention time in
order to push as much carbon to feed the elution plant. This led to the realization to carryout an
intensive project to increase the extraction efficiency in the CIP Plant.

JUSTIFICATION

Purpose of the Improvement of gold recovery is to:

# The validation of methods.

# The characterization of reference materials.

# The self assessment of the plants recovery efficiency in at test.

# Generate data and assign a value that would be used to set control limits.

OBJECTIVES

This project seeks to:

* To recover coarse carbon and fine carbon and carryout carbon activity.

* Recover coarse carbon from contamination with wood trash and grit for discard.

* To determine whether coarse and fine carbon require elution before charging , discarding
respectively.

* To investigate on factors affecting carbon adsorption and poisoning species in the circuit.

* To outline flow rates and sequential transfers.

*To analyse residence time for the coarse carbon in the contactor.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

 Is the rate and efficiency of carbon recovery a major factor of gold loss?

 To what extent does contamination of the carbon affect gold adsorption by carbon?

 What is the importance of maintaining coarse carbon in the CIP tanks?

 How big a role does flow rate and sequential transfers play in influencing the residence
time of the coarse carbon in the contactor?
METHODOLOGY

1)INTERVIEWS

Interviewed the plant operator who gave insightful answers, about the presumed
causes of the problem and the possible effects if the problem is not rectified. He
highlighted that the required percentage solids should be from 46-50% which is not
the case as the percentage is higher due to the increase in tonnage in order to reach
set targets. Controlling of the solids is done by use of a valve which when opened
settling time is reduced then percentage solids are reduced, when valve is closed
settling time is increased and then the percentage solids increase.

2) OBSERVATIONS

I observed that there was insufficient gold adsorption by carbon because it was too
fine hence resulted in pregnant carbon that could only adsorb a little gold. This led to
the unattached gold to flow to the tails tank then to the slimes dam because the
assumption is that all the gold has been adsorped which is not the case.

After nuatralising residual acid in carbon, the carbon is moved to the acid wash
column which acts as a passage way for carbon prior to the main elution column.

Water is used as a transporting media for carbon.

 Hot potable water is pumped through the treatment column to wash away eluted
gold into holding tanks.

FINDINGS

The carbon concentrations in the plant decreases on a daily basis to pathetic levels and thereby
increasing the costs of replacing carbon with fresh carbon from the mine stores almost
frequently. Also low recoveries due to loss of pregnant carbon through fines and coarse
carbon that is lost through porous screens.

Feed from Delkor screen goes to the high rate thickener for dewatering. Thickening is a physical
dewatering process that uses the principle of sedimentation. This has a rake which helps reduce
viscosity of the suspension and to direct sludge towards the exit point by slowly rotating the
rake. To produce a clarified liquid, the upward velocity of the liquid must be less than the
settling velocity of the particles.

CONCLUSIONS

Efforts have been made to try and recover as much gold as possible from the ore.
As a way of improving, How mine installed the acacia reactor plant , which is responsible for
leaching of free gold recovered by the gravity concentrator machines. The
CIP Plant requires proper management and close observation of the processes taking place.

The leached ore is charged into a carbon in pulp circuit for gold adsorption using carbon.
Carbon retention screens in carbon tanks function to retain carbon while pulp moves in a
counter current flow.

RECOMMENDATIONS

It is recommended that the acacia plant be fitted with screens , that is one delkor before the
thickeners for trash removal and one after the last tank for coarse carbon retention.
Coarse and fine carbon mixed with trash and grit should be collected and kept in boxes and
then later on coarse carbon separated from trash, grit and fines and then charged back into the
circuit to achieve total recovery of all the gold in the carbon in pulp tanks.

Carbon Inventory should be carried out so as to determine the amount of gold in the system.
Carbon samples from all tanks are taken to the assay lab , where it undergoes fire assay to
determine the amount of gold. This helps to keep track of all the gold in the system and to
account to any losses if they happen.