Abstract
Selective removal of mercury from cyanide leaching solutions while retaining silver has been a long-standing problem, due to the chemical similarity of mercury and silver. In order to be practical, a mercury removal process needs to be both highly selective and use inexpensive materials. This paper reports the use of zinc sulfide (ZnS) as a precipitant for mercury. The mercury cyanide complex (Hg(CN) 2−4 ) undergoes a replacement reaction with the zinc sulfide, forming insoluble HgS, while the silver cyanide complex (Ag(CN)2−) remains in solution. Under appropriate conditions, the separation of mercury from silver is nearly quantitative, with close to 100% removal of mercury, while nearly none of the silver is precipitated.
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Paper number MMP-12-050.
Discussion of this peer-reviewed and approved paper is invited and must be submitted to SME Publications Dept. prior to November 30, 2013.
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Gabby, K.L., Eisele, T.C. Selective removal of mercury using zinc sulfide. Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration 30, 91–94 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03402410
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03402410
Key words
- Mercury
- Cyanide leaching
- Silver/silver ores
- Leaching
- Zinc sulfide