Leaching of gold from a mechanically and mechanochemically activated waste

The intensification of leaching of gold from a waste using mechanical activation (milling in water) and mechanochemical activation(milling in thiourea solution) were studied as the pretreatment steps. The leaching of “as-received“ sample in an acid thiourea solutionresulted in 78 % Au dissolution, after mechanical activation 98 % and mechanochemical activation up to 99 % of the gold was leachedduring 120 min. The mechanochemical activation resulted in an increase of the specific surface area of the waste from 0.6 m2g-1to a maximum value of 20.5 m2g-1. The activation was performed in an attritor using variable milling times. The physico-chemical changesin the waste as a consequence of mechanochemical activation had a pronounced influence on the subsequent gold extraction.