Abstract An electrochemical process of the type for recovering precious metals such as gold and silver from their ores by adding to a slurry of the ore a cyanide complexing agent such as sodium cyanide and by electrolytically recovering the precious metal. The process is characterized by the use of small quantities, e.g., 50 milligrams per liter, of a water soluble electroconductive cationic resin, preferably polyvinylbenzyltri-methylammoniumchloride sold under the name ECR-34 by Dow Chemical Company of Midland, Michigan as an aqueous solution containing 33.7% of solids. The use of such a resin increases the amount of precious metals recovered from the ore per unit of time, improves the degree of recoverability, and improves the quality of the recovered metal.
Inventors
👤 Hugh A. Ghiringhelli
👤 Kenneth S. Deffeyes
Bibliographic Details
Application Number—
JurisdictionUS
Data Sourcegoogle_patents
Last Synchronized2026-10-26 19:29
CPC Classifications
C; C25; C25C; C25C1/00; C25C1/20
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 6
Claim 1
Independent Claim
73 words
In an electrochemical process for recovery of precious metals from their ores by supplying a slurry of the ore with a cyanide complexing agent for the precious metal and electrolytically processing the slurry to dissolve the precious metal from the slurry and recover the metal by electrodeposition at a cathode, the improvement which comprises adding to the slurry the water soluble electroconductive cationic resin polybenzyltrimethylammoniumchloride, whereby the recovery of precious metals is improved.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
73 words
In an electrochemical process for recovery of precious metals from their ores by supplying a slurry of the ore with a cyanide complexing agent for the precious metal and electrolytically processing the slurry to dissolve the precious metal from the slurry and recover the metal by electrodeposition at a cathode, the improvement which comprises adding to the slurry the water soluble electroconductive cationic resin polybenzyltrimethylammoniumchloride, whereby the recovery of precious metals is improved.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
27 words
An electrochemical process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the resin is added at a rate of at least about 50 milligrams per kilogram of dry ore.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
18 words
An electrochemical process as claimed in claim 1 further comprising recovering the precious metal at a cathodic electrode.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
18 words
An electrochemical process as claimed in claim 3 further comprising continuously flowing the slurry past the cathodic electrode.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
22 words
An electrochemical process as claimed in claim 1 further comprising maintaining the alkalinity of the slurry at at least about 0.01 equivalents/liter.