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Characterization of Preg-Robbing Carbonaceous Minerals from the Shuiyindong Carlin-Type Gold Deposit Via Spectroscopic Techniques

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Abstract

With over 260 tons of gold reserves, the Shuiyindong gold mine is one of the largest Carlin-type gold deposits in China. A particular challenge in the processing of the ore is the presence of carbonaceous compounds, which can cause substantial losses in recoveries via the preg-robbing and adsorption of gold. To investigate the structural properties of the native carbon and to compare between different characterization techniques for such compounds, pre- and post-flotation mineral samples containing 0.9–4.8% non-carbonate carbon from the Shuiyindong mine have been examined via mineralogical and thermogravimetric approaches, as well as spectroscopic techniques, including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), near-edge X-ray absorption fine edge structure spectroscopy (NEXAFS), solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and preg-robbing measurements. NEXAFS and DRIFT yielded the most reliable results, indicating that 60–75% of the organic carbon in all samples consist of aliphatic alkenes with substantial unsaturated content, highly similar to activated carbon, with the remainder being graphitic and humic. Speciation by XPS was sub-optimal due to spectral overlaps between graphitic and aliphatic carbon, and between carboxylic and carbonate functionalities, while NMR spectroscopy could not provide reliable speciation of the carbon groups. The preg-robbing strength was strongly correlated to the aliphatic content and structural disorder in the carbon, while no such relationship was found with the graphitic and humic content.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by the ARC LP grant (LP160101760) for this work. We are thankful to Zijin Mining and the metallurgists and operators from the Shuiyindong gold mine for providing the ore samples associated with this work, and we greatly appreciate the support provided by the beamline scientists and staff of the Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility (BSRF). Special thanks to Nadia Zakhartchouk, Frank Antolasic, Stephen Grist, Bebeto Lay, Kyle Hearn, Zahra Homan, Peggy Chang, Sandro Longano, Cameron Crombie, Sanaz Salehi, Mary Karagiozakis, Mike Allan, the Rheology and Materials Processing Centre (RMPC), Babs Fairchild, Paul Jones, Dru Morrish, the Micro Nano Research Facility (MNRF), and the Centre for Advanced Materials and Industrial Chemistry (CAMIC) for training and the use of equipment. We would also like to thank Chris Sheedy, Winston Liew, Rong Fan and Jack Wrigley from CSIRO, as well as Lathe Jones, Nebeal Faris, Naresh Pillai, Selvakannan Perisamy, Yalong Ma and Yufang Zhang for their assistance at various stages of this study.

Funding

This study was funded by Zijin Mining and the Australian Research Council via the Linkage Project grant LP160101760.

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All authors contributed to the conception and design of this study. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by all authors at different stages of this study. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Wei Sung Ng and Yi Yang, and all authors have commented on the previous versions of the manuscript leading to this version. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Miao Chen.

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The authors have no financial or non-financial interests in any material discussed in this article. At the time of writing, two co-authors, Xiuzhu Su, Shuiping Zhong, are employed by Zijin Mining.

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Ng, W.S., Yang, Y., Su, X. et al. Characterization of Preg-Robbing Carbonaceous Minerals from the Shuiyindong Carlin-Type Gold Deposit Via Spectroscopic Techniques. Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration 39, 169–188 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-021-00507-7

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