Abstract
The kinetics of gold-bromide loading onto activated carbon was investigated in a batch stirred reactor. Based on a second-order equation, the amount of gold adsorbed by the carbon was correlated with time. From a 30°C solution containing 25 ppm Au and 0.8 g/L carbon, the rate constant for gold-bromide species onto activated carbon ranged from 0.27 × 10−3 to 1.2 × 10−3 (kg/t)−1min−1. The equilibrium saturation capacity (Qe) was 36 ± 3.0 kg/t from the same system. The rate of loading increased with increasing temperature and decreasing particle size, pH and solution gold concentration. The calculated activation energy (Ea) was 8.8 kcal/mole, significantly higher than those reported for physical adsorption. The equilibrium saturation capacity (Qe) increased with increasing concentration of gold in solution but was independent of other variables such as temperature, agitation speed, particle size and pH. These rate constants and equilibrium saturation capacity for the gold-bromide species are higher than those reported for the gold-cyanide systems.
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SME preprint 96-73, SME Annual Meeting March 11–14, 1996, Phoenix, AZ. M&MP paper 96–609. Discussion of this peer-reviewed paper is invited and must be submitted, in duplicate, prior to May 31, 1997.
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Mensah-Biney, R., Reid, K.J. & Hepworth, M.T. Kinetics of gold-bromide loading onto activated carbon. Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration 14, 7–13 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03402745
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03402745