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Minerals Engineering, Vol. 14, No. 9, pp.
931-962, 2001
Pergamon © 2001 Elsevier Science Lid
All fights reserved
0892--6875(01)00103-0 0892-6875/01/$ - see front matter
A R E V I E W O F T H E F L O T A T I O N O F N A T I V E G O L D AND E L E C T R U M
G.C. ALLAN and J.T. WOODCOCK
CSIRO Minerals, Box 312, Clayton South, Vic, 3169, Australia.

E-mail:jim.woodcock@minerals.csiro.au
(Received 25 April 2001; accepted 30 June 2001)
ABSTRACT
Native gold and electrum are naturally-occurring alloys containing gold and silver and a little
copper. They are the most common and important forms of gold in ores. Their recovery by gravity
concentration, cyanidation, or flotation from ores, typically containing O.1-20 g/t Au is of great
commercial importance. This paper reviews the literature on their recovery by flotation. Little
mention is made of the recovery of other gold minerals, but some comments are made on the
flotation of host minerals (iron and base metal sulphides).
Gold and electrum occur in a wide variety of ores in a wide spread of sizes ranging from large
lumps (nuggets) to fine particles (0.1 pm) to even finer sizes below the resolution of scanning
electron microscopes. The range of applicability of flotation is from about 200 I~m flakes to 1 pm
particles.
Fundamental concepts of gold and electrum flotation are considered, including the possibility of
collectorless flotation of the minerals. This question is not yet resolved properly, but goM in some
ores does float without a collector. The theory of gold interaction with collectors such as xanthates
and dithiophosphates is then considered as a guide to practical flotation and it is shown that for
xanthate to adsorb on gold, electrochemical reactions involving xanthate ions and oxygen must
Occur.
Practical aspects of gold flotation considered include the physical condition of the gold particles
(size, shape, zonal variations in composition, composites, surface coatings), general ore
mineralogy, specific host minerals for gold (pyrite, arsenopyrite, base metal sulphide minerals,
quartz), interfering minerals (pyrophyllite, carbon), and non-ore materials (cement fill, mine timber,
ferrous wear debris).
General chemical conditions involved in flotation include collectors (xanthates, dithiophosphates,

mercaptobenzothiazole, amines), frothers (M1BC, Aerofroth), activators (copper sulphate),
depressants (lime, cyanide, sulphite, sulphide, guars), pH modifiers (sulphuric acid, sodium
carbonate, lime), gaseous atmosphere (air, oxygen, or nitrogen), and others. Reagents need to be
tailored for each ore.
Physical parameters are also important. Those that can be varied, within limits, include pulp
density (15--45% solids) and aeration in conditioners and flotation (either too much or too little is
detrimental). Operating temperatures can be important but are not varied in a controlled manner.
Flotation cell and impeller design can be important but are not a day-to-day variable.
931
932 G.C. Allan and J. T. Woodcock
Nine specific applications of native gold and electrum flotation to the treatment of gold-containing
ores were identified and are briefly discussed. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords
Gold ores; precious metal ores; froth flotation
INTRODUCTION
Recovery of native gold and electrum from gold ores and base metal ores is an important industrial practice.
General methods used, alone or in combination, include gravity concentration, flotation, and cyanidation. This
paper is concerned with flotation.
It is interesting to realize that the application of flotation to gold ores began, in a sense, in 1893 when,
according to Hoover (1912, p. 22), British patent No. 24,939 was granted to H.L. Sulman for a process to
prevent the loss of "float" gold in stamp battery milling of gold ores by adding substances (unspecified)
which wetted the gold and caused it to sink under the surface of the pulp. According to Wang and Poling
(1983, p. 52) the first paper on true gold flotation was published by W. Motherwell (1914). Then Rickard
(1917) published a paper on "The flotation of gold and silver mineral". This paper enunciated many of the
principles that have application today. However, the application of flotation to gold ores did not begin in
earnest until about 1930, following the first use of xanthates in 1924 and of dithiophosphates in 1925.
Taggart (1945) summarized knowledge to about 1944, and most references cited here are post-1945.
Topics covered here include the nature of gold in ores, theoretical aspects of gold flotation, some practical
aspects of gold flotation, and selected applications of plant practice. A related technique, coal-gold
agglomeration and flotation (e.g. Moses and Petersen, 2000), is not discussed here.
NATURE OF GOLD IN ORES
Gold in ores and rocks occurs in many ways, which are briefly outlined here in relation to the metallurgical
processing of ores for gold recovery.
M o d e s o f gold occurrence in minerals and ores
Gold can occur in minerals, rocks, and ores in five general classes. These are strongly related to the mode
of geological formation of the deposit (e.g. hydrothermal or epithermal), but this is not discussed here.
1. Visible native gold particles, having the general properties listed in Table 1, occur in a wide variety of
ores. Flotation of such particles is the major feature of this paper. Native gold and electrum are unusual
minerals in that they do not have a fixed composition, they are extremely dense, and they are soft and
highly malleable. The listed properties have various effects on their recovery by flotation as discussed
later in this paper. Individual particles have a much greater value than that of most other minerals.
. A wide range of relatively rare gold minerals exists (Dana and Ford, 1996; Edwards, 1947; Gasparrini,
1993; Henley, 1975). Of these, gold tellurides and perhaps gold-carbon associations are the most
important. A few comments are included on tellurides as they have similar flotation properties to
native gold.
. Visible and/or sub-microscopic gold in iron sulphides (pyrite, arsenopyrite, and pyrrhotite) is common.
Flotation of these minerals to concentrate the gold has been reviewed by O'Connor and Dunne (1994).
Attempts to liberate the visible gold by fine grinding for differential flotation are rare. The concentrate
is treated separately to recover the contained gold.
Reviewof flotation of native gold and electrum 933
TABLE 1 Selected properties of particles of native gold and electrum which are, or may be, of
importance in relation to their flotation
Property Specific value and/or comment Selected references

Composition Natural alloys of gold, silver, and copper (see Fig. 1) Anhaeusser et al.,
(major elements) Native gold typically contains 80-100% Au, 1-15% Ag, 0- (1987); Shikazono
5% Cu and Shimizu (1988)
Electrum typically contains 60--80% Au and 20-40% Ag
Composition Minor elements (typically at the ppm level) include mercury Anhaeusser et al.,
(minor elements) (up to 1%), Ni, Fe, Co, Pd, Pt, Pb, and Zn (1987)
Composition Some particles, particularly detrital gold, show zonal McDonald et al.,
(zonal variation) variation such as silver depletion within a grain or a gold (1990)
coating on the surface
Size Massive nuggets (kg) to 0.1 ~tm particles Gasparrini (1993);
Invisible gold in some host minerals Aylmore and
Graham (1992)
Shape in lode Highly irregular masses in larger sizes; wire, flakes, and Gasparrini (1993)
ores irregular pieces in intermittent sizes; and near spheres (in
polished sections) in finer size ranges
Shape in alluvial Irregular flattish lumps in coarser sizes (Corey shape factor Tourtelot and Riley
ores and ground < 0.3) to more spherical particles in finer sizes (1973)
products
Density (g/cm 3) Variable according to composition, but 19.3 for pure gold and Dana and Ford
10.5 for pure silver (1966)
Malleability and Highly malleable and therefore very difficult to grind; Taggart(1945)
grindability product is flattened deformed particles
Hardness (Mohs) 2.5-3 in ores; greater than this when work-hardened by Dana and Ford
grinding (1966)
Coatings Silver chloride, silver sulphide, mercury, metallic iron, iron Edwards (1947);
hydroxide/oxide, and organics Henley (1975);
Gasparrini (1993)
Host minerals Iron sulphides (pyrite, pyrrhotite, arsenopyrite); base metal Schwartz (1944)
sulphides (chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite, bismuthinite,
stibnite); gangue (quartz, mica, hematite, magnetite,
carbonates)
. Visible and/or sub-microscopic gold in valuable base metal sulphide minerals of copper, lead, zinc,
antimony, and bismuth is also common. Such gold is recovered by flotation of the mineral concerned,
and no attempts are made to liberate it by fine grinding.
5. Visible and/or sub-microscopic gold can occur in gangue host minerals such as quartz, mica, and iron
oxides. Gold in this form can rarely be economically recovered by flotation.
In any particular ore, the deportment of the gold in the ore, that is, the nature and amount of gold in the
various possible forms, is rarely clearly known, and its determination can involve a substantial and
expensive investigation. Such investigations can involve optical microscope and SEM examinations,
QemSCAN studies, microprobe and conventional analyses, amalgamation and cyanidation tests, selective
dissolution of minerals in acids (diagnostic leaching), and other tests.
Nomenclature
Some notes on nomenclature are given here to provide a better understanding of what is meant and to avoid
using the many ambivalent, confusing, or incorrect statements used in the general literature.
'Native gold' and 'electrum' means those naturally occurring alloys of gold, silver, and copper with
analyses in the gold-rich and gold-silver-rich regions of the gold-silver-copper ternary system (Fig. 1).
This system has a continuous series of alloys between the three components with no intermetallic
compounds or separate phases. There is no specific composition for native gold or electrum. However, in
ores the majority of particles which are termed gold, have compositions (by weight) in the range 80-100%
Au, 1-15% Ag, and 0-5% Cu (Anhaeusser et al., 1987; Desborough, 1970; Desborough et aL, 1970).
Au
7 o. o
e
60 fJ
90 10
100 0
Ag o lo 20 3o 4o 50 80 :o 80 90 ~oo Cu
Cu (wt %)
Fig.1 Ternary diagram of the gold-silver-copper system showing the regions for the most common
compositions of native gold and electrum.
Individual particles of native gold or electrum do not necessarily have a uniform composition. As shown by
McDonald et al. (1970), among others, many detrital particles have zones, large and small, of different
compositions. Many particles have zones of silver depletion on the surface of the grain, which can affect
their flotation performance.
Electrum was originally defined as an alloy containing 50 atomic per cent gold and silver (64.6 wt % Au
and 35.4 wt % Ag). However, by common usage, it has come to mean almost any silver-rich gold-silver
alloy (Shikazono and Shimizu, 1988, p. 1; Marsden and House, 1992).
'Liberated gold' is used here to refer to a monomineralic particle of native gold or electrum, completely
liberated from other minerals. The term 'free gold' is not used here, but it is commonly, and incorrectly,
used in the literature to describe any visible gold particle. This is done even for visible gold in large hand
specimens, as well as crushed or ground ores, where it is clearly attached to quartz or other mineral and is
therefore present as a composite particle. Some mineralogists even describe native gold in polished sections
of quartz in drill core as being free gold. Some authors also use the term free gold synonymously with
cyanide-soluble gold, whereas cyanide can dissolve gold in cracks in a mineral or attached to a host mineral
where the gold is anything but free. Moreover, many authors regard visible particles of gold in pyrite and
other minerals as being "locked" even though such gold may be readily liberated by grinding. Such
particles are best regarded as composite particles.
Reviewof flotationof nativegoldand electrum 935
'Invisible gold' seems to have originally meant gold invisible to the naked eye but which could be detected
by assaying. The term was subsequently extended to gold that is below the range of visibility with an
optical microscope (say 1 lam), and later still to gold that was below the range of visibility in a scanning
electron microscope (SEM) (say 0.1 lam). More modern techniques may be able to detect individual atoms
of gold. In this paper the term is used interchangeably with "sub-microscopic gold" to mean gold that is
finer than about 0.5 Jam. Such gold is a fairly common occurrence in sulphide minerals, especially
arsenopyrite and pyrite. For example, Aylmore and Graham (1992) have reported that pyrite can contain
between 0.3 ppm and 800 ppm of invisible gold, and that arsenopyrite can contain between 0.5 ppm and 2
wt % of invisible gold.
'Free milling gold' or free milling gold ores are terms used to describe ores in which moderately fine
grinding readily liberates the gold for gravity concentration and/or flotation, or exposes the gold to the
action of cyanide or other lixiviants.
'Refractory gold' is another general but imprecise term that is not used here. It was meant originally to
refer to gold that was not recovered by direct amalgamation or cyanidation of an ore, and especially to
invisible gold "locked" in pyrite. It is now used to refer to sub-microscopic gold in any mineral, some gold
tellurides, carbon-gold associations, and other difficult-to-cyanide gold minerals.
Gold-containing ores
Gold-containing ores, which may require flotation of native gold in their treatment flowsheet, come in
many forms (Taggart, 1945; Dorr and Bosqui, 1950; Marsden and House, 1992). They include
straightforward gold ores and many base metal ores. Geological forms include placer deposits,
hydrothermal deposits, epithermal deposits, volcanic material, sedimentary rocks, metamorphosed rocks,
and oxidized and/or weathered material. It was thought inappropriate to review these geological forms here,
but a tentative metallurgical classification is given in Table 2. This is used to guide some of the discussion
as this greatly affects the aims, methods, and possible results of the application of flotation.
FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF NATIVE GOLD FLOTATION
Most of the reported fundamental work on the flotation of gold has been conducted using refined high
purity gold and gold-silver alloys with the aim of determining collector-gold interactions and the nature of
adsorption of collector ions or molecules onto the gold surface. In addition, some work has been conducted
to decide whether or not pure gold has a natural hydrophobicity and hence some degree of natural
floatability. Although some work has been conducted on native gold particles recovered from placer
deposits, little fundamental work appears to have been reported on gold particles selected from lode
deposits.
A great deal of work has been reported on specific ores, but such studies rarely distinguish between the
flotation of native gold and other gold minerals. Such papers are not reviewed here but some exceptions are
noted later.
T A B L E 2 Typical types of gold ores containing native gold to which flotation may be applied*
Ore type Forms of gold Major sulphide Problem minerals

possibly presentt minerals possibly possibly present*
present and possible
hosts for gold
Unconsolidated placers Native Nil Clays
(alluvial and eluvial)
Oxidized and Native Nil Pyrophyllite

weathered (usually Coated Other clays
near-surface)
Gold-pyrite Native Pyrite Gold-free pyrite
Invisible Arsenopyrite
Other Pyrrhotite
Gold-telluride-pyrite Native Pyrite Gold-free pyrite
Invisible Arsenopyrite
Telluride Pyrrhotite
Other
Single base metal Native Chalcopyrite Gold-free pyrite and/or
sulphide Invisible Bornite gold-containing pyrite
(Cu, Sb, Bi) Other Stibnite
Bismuthinite
Pyrite
Polymetallic sulphide Native Chalcopyrite Gold-containing pyrite
(Cu-Pb-Zn-pyrite) Invisible Galena
Other Sphalerite
Pyrite
Oxidized base metal Native Nil Chrysocolla
(Cu, Pb) Coated Clays
Jarosites
Uranium-gold Native Pyrite Carbonaceous matter
Uraniferous Arsenopyrite
kerogen
Carbonaceous Native Pyrite Carbonaceous matter
Carbon-gold
associations
* Coarse gold, if present, is recovered by gravity concentration.

t Native = native gold; Coated = coated gold; Telluride = gold telluride; Invisible = sub-microscopic gold;
Other = rare gold minerals.
Small amounts may not matter; large amounts can cause serious problems.
Natural floatability of native gold
There is evidence that at least some native gold particles in some deposits are naturally hydrophobic and
therefore are naturally floatable. This has been a well-known phenomenon for many years. Both Hoover
(1912, p. 22) and Rickard (1917, p. 379) have commented on the tendency of native gold to float on the
surface of a pulp in a sluice box or stamp battery and to be lost in the tailing. This is sometimes termed skin
flotation.
Reviewof flotationof nativegold and electrum 937
It was, and to some extent still is, controversial as to the reasons for such gold appearing to be naturally
floatable. Some possible explanations are as follows.
Variation in composition of native gold
Native gold and electrum are variable in composition (Table 1 and Fig. 1) and different parts of a particle
can have different compositions. This could mean that some native gold could be inherently naturally
floatable because of its composition (e.g. high or low silver and/or the presence of other minor alloying
elements) whereas other native gold is not. This seems unlikely, but Leppinen et al. (1991), for example,
have provided some evidence that high-silver gold could float more readily than low-silver gold, as
discussed in more detail later. Thus, although the concept is currently unproven, it remains a possibility,
and is worth further investigation.
Surface changes caused by geological processes or comminution
Native gold could become floatable by chemical or physical surface changes caused by geological
processes over time. Gardner and Woods (1974, 1977) showed that electrochemically-cleaned pure gold
had a zero contact angle in buffer solutions and zero natural flotation in alkaline or acid solutions when
using purified nitrogen gas bubbles. However, it is suggested here that the cleaned surface was unusual in
some way. Gold disks polished with conventional polishing powder showed a finite contact angle and
flotation even when washed with pure water and pure ethanol before use. This was ascribed to unspecified
contamination during the polishing process. They also cited other work, which indicated that contamination
may have occurred during polishing. It is possible that geological processes of an unknown nature could
cause similar effects.
However, they did not consider the possibility that the surface of the gold was almost certainly work-
hardened during polishing, and it is postulated here that that made the surface more "active" and therefore
more floatable. This is analogous to the well-known phenomenon of stress corrosion (ASTM, 1972), in
which work hardened metals or metals under stress are much more liable to corrosion than fully annealed,
unstressed metals. This also could be worth investigation.
Aksoy and Yarar (1989) also claimed that native gold flakes obtained from a Mexican placer deposit
showed natural hydrophobicity. However, in some of their work they melted a gold flake into a bead and
then hammered it fiat, so it is dubious if the resultant gold particle could be regarded as truly native.
Nevertheless, the test particle was work hardened by hammering.
Alluvial gold particles are normally flakey and show signs of extensive deformation and flattening
presumably caused during their liberation from the original rock and transport to the place from where they
are recovered. This must have caused work hardening, which could contribute to the surface properties as
noted above. Native gold obtained from lode gold ores after comminution is also usually extensively
deformed and flattened. It is therefore work hardened and its surface may well be contaminated.
Surface contamination with organic matter
Native gold could become floatable by surface contamination with organic matter from natural biological
processes. This would apply particularly to alluvial gold, but not to gold from lode ores.
Wang and Poling (1983) asserted, with little experimental evidence, that native gold particles (by which
they were referring only to placer gold) were normally hydrophobic either because of contamination with
organic substances or because the particle surface had been depleted in silver by natural leaching leaving a
gold-rich surface layer. This latter point implied that gold-rich particles had better floatability than gold-
silver alloys, but as noted elsewhere, when xanthate is present the reverse seems to be true. It is also known
that many water-soluble organic extracts from plants and timbers are strong depressants for all minerals,
especially when present in high concentrations, whereas others are collectors (e.g. Taggart, 1945). Hence,
one could reasonably expect that naturally occurring organic substances would be as likely to depress gold
as activate it.
938 G.C. Allanand J. T. Woodcock
Contamination with oil or grease
It is possible that native gold can become contaminated by oil or grease during mining and comminution of
the ore. This seems unlikely in any continuing situation, when it would require attention, but is certainly
possible on a more or less random basis.
Conclusion
It is concluded that if Gardner and Woods (1974, 1977) are correct that electrochemically-cleaned pure
gold is not hydrophobic, then the apparent natural floatability or otherwise of gold is caused by variations
in composition, surface coatings of an organic or inorganic nature, and/or work hardening of the particles.
Another possibility is that it is caused by variations in flotation pulp potential (Aksoy and Yarar, 1989) as
discussed below under 'collectorless flotation'. It may be possible to exploit this feature commercially.
Collectorless flotation
If native gold does have some natural floatability it may be possible to float such gold before proceeding
with flotation of other minerals such as auriferous pyrite or base metal sulphide minerals. This would be
analogous to collectorless flotation, probably with the assistance of a frother, which has been extensively
studied with other minerals and especially with respect to chalcopyrite (Heyes and Trahar, 1977).
Such a process could involve careful adjustment of pH to an optimum level and adjustment of Eh to an
optimum level by addition of an oxidizing or reducing agent (Heyes and Trahar, 1977; Ralston, 1991) or by
the use of oxygen or nitrogen as suggested by Hintikka and Leppinen (1995). If an organic compound on
the surface of the gold causes the natural flotation, then addition of the compound might help flotation,
though this would, in principle, no longer be collectorless flotation. Modern time-of-flight secondary-ion
mass spectrometers (TOFSIMS) could, in principle, be capable of determining whether or not an organic
compound is present and identifying it.
Reactions of gold with xanthate
The most commonly used collectors for the flotation of native gold, other gold minerals, and auriferous
sulphides are the xanthates, typified by sodium ethyl xanthate (NaC2H5OCSS). There have been various
explanations of how these reagents form hydrophobic coatings on gold, but electrochemical concepts, as
summarised by Woods (1984), are mainly considered here, because they provide the most convincing
account of the observed data and facts.
The electrochemical explanation involves simultaneous anodic and cathodic reactions on the gold surface
with transfer of electrons through the gold (Fig. 2), which is a good conductor of electricity. The main
reactants are the gold surface, the added xanthate, and oxygen dissolved in the solution.
Sodium ethyl xanthate, in common with other flotation xanthates, is readily soluble in water and dissociates
into positively charged sodium ions (Na +) and negatively charged polar ethyl xanthate ions (C2H5OCSS-).
The xanthate ion is abbreviated to X-, following common practice. Three possible mechanisms for the
formation of hydrophobic coatings on gold are noted below.
AuAu Au .Xads . . ,- Anodic reaction

( ~ Cu Au Au ~.__.._~X .o_o._
4X" - - . 4Xads + 4e"
Au Au Ag -Xads ~
AuAu ALl -Xads <C .~ Cathodic reactions
Au Au Au
Au Cu Au (i) O2 + 2H20 + 2 e ' - - - H202 + 2OH"
Ag Au Au (ii) H202 + 2e" --. 2OH"
Au Au Ag
e-
AuAu Au . ~ 0 2 o ~ (total) 02 + 2H20 + 4e" --- 4OH-
Au Ag Au ~o o
Overall reaction
Native gold particle 4X" + 02 + 2H20 ~ 4Xads + 4OH-
Fig. 2 Diagrammatic representation of electrochemical reactions between a native gold particle (80 at.%
Au, 13 at.% Ag, and 7 at.% Cu) and an aerated aqueous solution containing xanthate ions (X-).
Xad s = xanthate ion chemisorbed on the gold surface.
Physisorption
In the simplest, but probably unsatisfactory, explanation the xanthate ions diffuse from the bulk solution to
the surface of the gold. When they reach the surface they become physisorbed with the non-polar group
presenting to the solution (Sutherland and Wark, 1955; Woods, 1984). This does not involve oxygen,
which is known to be necessary, and therefore is not favoured as a full explanation. However, some other
collectors may act in this way.
Simultaneous anodic and cathodic reactions and chemisorption
In the concept of simultaneous reactions (Woods, 1984), a xanthate ion diffuses from the bulk solution to
the surface of the gold. There it undergoes an anodic reaction (Eq. 1) in which an electron is released into
the gold and the xanthate ion is discharged and becomes chemisorbed onto a gold atom. This results in the
non-polar group presenting to the solution, thus giving a hydrophobic surface condition.
At the same time, dissolved oxygen in the solution also diffuses to the gold surface and undergoes a two-
stage cathodic reaction (Eqs. 2-4) in which the electrons generated in Eq. 1, plus water molecules, produce
hydroxyl ions. The overall reaction is shown in Eq. 5.
Anodic 4X- -~ 4Xad s + 4e- (1)

Cathodic (i) O 2 + 2H20 + 2e- --->H202 + 2OH- (2)
Cathodic (ii) H202 + 2e- ~ 2OH- (3)
Cathodic (total) 0 2 + 2H20 + 4e- --~ 4OH- (4)
Overall 4X- + 02 + 2H20 --->4Xads + 4OH- (5)
This shows that in this system (Fig. 2), both xanthate and oxygen are essential for flotation of gold.
Collector oxidation and precipitation
Under some conditions, e.g. oxidizing conditions with relatively high pulp potentials, xanthate ions can be
electrochemically oxidized to dixanthogen (ROCSS.SSCOR or X2) (Eq. 6) with release of electrons into
the gold, simultaneous reduction of oxygen, and the formation of hydroxyl ions as in Eqs. 2-4. The
dixanthogen forms a hydrophobic coating on the gold in an unspecified way, but possibly by precipitation
on the surface (E. Silvester, personal communication).
Dixanthogen formation 2X- --->X 2 + 2e- (6)

General
It is not entirely clear how the dixanthogen is attached to the gold surface, nor for that matter, how the
xanthate is attached. However, Woods and co-workers (Woods et al., 1992, 1994, 1995) have indicated that
chemisorption is the preferred explanation rather than the formation of a gold xanthate (either aurous or
auric). It should be noted that the dixanthogen needs to be formed in situ on the gold surface; adding liquid
dixanthogen to the system would not achieve the same result because of problems with selective dispersion
of the reagent.
Both the adsorbed xanthate and dixanthogen form hydrophobic coatings on the gold surfaces and enable
attachment of the particle to a gas bubble (air, oxygen, or nitrogen). The degree of coverage of the surface
by collector for flotation to occur has not been established.
Although oxygen is generally believed to be necessary for gold and pyrite flotation with xanthates,
Simmons et al. (1999) found that when using amyl xanthate to recover gold and pyrite from a relatively
easily-oxidizable ore they obtained slightly better recoveries when they completely enclosed their plant in
an attempt to exclude oxygen and used nitrogen instead.
Xanthate adsorption on gold, silver, and gold-silver alloys
Given that native gold is rarely, if ever, pure gold, there was a need to study the response to flotation of
gold-silver and other alloys of gold. Chemisorption of ethyl xanthate on gold, silver, and gold-silver alloys
(20 wt % silver and 50 wt % silver) has been studied using various methods by Leppinen et al. (1991) and
Woods et al. (1992, 1994). This work showed that ethyl xanthate was chemisorbed on the silver sites in the
gold-silver lattice at potentials below those at which silver ethyl xanthate was formed. However, at higher
potentials, silver ethyl xanthate was formed on silver sites, and ethyl dixanthogen was formed on gold sites
in the lattice. In all cases, the addition of xanthate rendered the surface hydrophobic and therefore floatable.
Moreover, the results showed that the greater the amount of silver present the easier it was to render the
surface hydrophobic. In other words, silver-containing native gold should be easier to float than pure gold.
Wang and Poling (1983) have a different view but give little supporting evidence. It would obviously be
interesting to have data for similar alloys containing a few per cent copper.
Woods et al. (1992) included Eh-pH diagrams indicating that chemisorption of xanthate occurred over a
wide range of Eh and pH, implying that flotation of gold could be successfully accomplished over a wide
range of conditions.
Use of other collectors
A few other collectors are used in the flotation of native gold but not a great deal is known about the theory
of their use or how they are attached to the gold surface.
Dithiophosphates (DTP), typified by Sodium Aerofloat (sodium diethyl dithiophosphate) are believed to
act in a similar way to xanthates. However, they are useful adjunct or secondary collectors to xanthates as
while they float gold, they are regarded as poor collectors of pyrite in alkaline solution (Taggart, 1945) as
discussed further in the section on practical aspects of native gold flotation. They are thought to follow
similar reactions to those for xanthate as shown in Eqs. 1-6, and form di-dithiophosphogen compounds
analogous to dixanthogen by sulphur-sulphur linkage (Basilio et al., 1992).
Basilio et al. (1992), in working with gold, silver, and gold-silver alloys and monothiophosphate (MTP),
concluded that reactions similar to Eqs. 1-6 for xanthate occurred. They also concluded that combined
electrochemical (Eq. 7) and chemical (Eq. 8) reactions occurred.
Electrochemical Ag o ~ Ag + + e- (7)
Chemical Ag + + MTP- ~ AgMPT (8)

The silver atom remains part of the metal lattice but the MTP is chemisorbed onto it. No similar reaction
was found for gold. This could indicate, as for xanthate, that silver-containing native gold would be easier
to float than pure gold when using MTP as a collector.
Crozier (1991) maintained that many sulphur-containing sulphide-mineral collectors chemisorbed on a

sulphur atom in the mineral lattice by sulphur-sulphur bonds instead of on a metal atom in the mineral
lattice by sulphur-metal bonds as is thought by many investigators. However, this could not explain the
action of such collectors on metallic minerals such as native gold.
Theoretical concepts for other collectors such as mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT), thionocarbamates, and
thiocarbanilide are much less advanced and understood. Klimpel (1999) suggests that these reagents are
insoluble in water and that this gives them some advantages, which are not specified. However, it is
difficult to understand how an insoluble reagent could be dispersed in the flotation pulp sufficiently finely
to selectively attach itself to a specific mineral, particularly one present in such small concentrations as
native gold. Klimpel (1999) is also incorrect in stating that these reagents are insoluble in water. They are
sparingly soluble in water and they each have a UV absorption spectrum in the concentrations used in
flotation practice as shown by Jones and Woodcock (1973). For some of the reagents, particularly MBT,
the spectrum changes with pH changes as the form of the collector in solution changes with pH. The
concentrations of these reagents in solution can be measured by UV absorption methods (not discussed
here). Moreover, thionocarbamates are un-ionized in solution and it is not clear how they promote flotation
of native gold or other minerals.
E F F E C T OF PHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF NATIVE GOLD ON F L O T A T I O N
Physical conditions of native gold that can affect its flotation include particle size, particle shape, surface
coatings, and liberation and composites. Feather and Koen (1973) have discussed the significance of the
mineralogical and surface characteristics of gold grains in the recovery process.
Particle size of native gold
Native gold and electrum occur in particles ranging in size from less than a micron to enormous nuggets.
Figure 3 shows three characteristic gold size distributions - - a hydrothermal deposit containing some very
coarse gold, an epithermal deposit containing mostly medium size gold, and a more complex deposit
containing fine gold and invisible gold. Also shown are the approximate ranges of applicability of gravity
concentration, flotation, and cyanidation; note that there is some overlap in these ranges.
Details of the size of gold in ores have been reported by many authors (e.g. Anhaeusser et al., 1987;
Hallbauer and Joughin, 1973; and Haycock, 1937). Haycock showed that for 50 Canadian ores gold was
present as allotriomorphic grains and that 80% of the gold was in the size range between 6 lam and 100 }am,
which is similar to the size range shown on Fig. 3b.
Figure 3 indicates an approximate upper and lower limit to the size of liberated gold that can be floated.
This size is affected by particle shape, particle density or Au:Ag:Cu ratio, froth characteristics, the collector
used, pulp density, flotation cell design, and probably other factors. The lower limit is thought to be about
2-5 pm and the upper limit about 200 lain.
Cyanidation
Flotation
Gravity concentration
,,q. v-
40
30 A A. "Free milling" ore from Victoria, Australia, with

coarse to very coarse native gold but very littl
c: very fine gold; 1-2% S. Also placer deposits.
20
10
~..¢z
10 -2 10-1 1 10 10 2 10 3 10 4
Native gold particle size (microns)
40
30 B. Typical siliceous gold ore, the most common

B
20 vadety, with 0-2% S. Mostly fine to medium
size native gold.
10
0
10 -2 10 "1 1 10 102 103 104
40
~ 30 C. Kalgoodie type gold ore (2-10% S) with mostly

g C
_ 20 fine native gold, some sub-microscopic gold
in iron sulphides, and some gold telluddes.
"6
~ . ~~ lO
o
10 -2 10 -1 1 10 102 103 104
Fig. 3 Typical size distributions of native gold particles in gold ores. The dotted lines at the ends of the
ranges of applicability of different treatment methods indicate the effect of differences in equipment,
the techniques used, and the shape of the gold particles.
Early work was conducted by Leaver and Woolf (1932, 1934a), using particles of native gold containing
10-15% silver, hand picked from a sample of stamp battery discharge from a lode gold ore, and mixed with
ground sea sand. This work is commendable in that it was one of the few investigations conducted on
native lode gold and not alluvial gold, pure gold, nor synthetic alloys. The results showed that gold finer
than about 250 lam was readily floated using 45 g/t potassium amyl xanthate, 45 g/t Aerofloat 15, and 45
g/t pine oil. This reagent combination would have given a fairly stiff froth. Coarser sizes were poorly
floated unless flakey.
Later work by Wang and Poling (1983), using selected alluvial gold particles gave generally similar results.
Wang and Poling also applied the Corey shape factor of the gold to their results (see below).
Lins and Adamian (1993a), also using placer gold particles, reported more recent work with Corey shape
factors of 0.4-0.6. At 18% solids and using 50 g/t amyl xanthate and 30 g/t Aerofroth 65, particles up to
600 Hm were recovered. At 33% solids, the maximum particle size recovered was about 360 Hm, even with
the addition of 300 g/t amyl xanthate. With 30 g/t of Aerofroth 65 alone the upper limit of particle size
floated was about 190 Hm.
An important corollary of this work is that the upper limit of floatability of native gold particles, given the
presence of suitable collectors and frothers, is well within the scope of gravity concentration. That is, the
overlap of recovery shown on Fig. 3 is adequate to cope with ores containing reasonably coarse gold.
Recovery of the finer sizes of liberated gold has been less carefully studied. However, Allison and Dunne
(1985) used particles of gold powder that had been chemically precipitated from solution. While not being
native gold, such particles are a reasonable substitute. The particles were added to either ground quartz or
dump material. For gold sizes coarser than 15 lam recoveries higher than 95% were obtained. For the finer
fractions, an average recovery of 93% of the gold was obtained for the dump material but only 86% was
obtained from the quartz sample. This was ascribed to the poorer frothing character of the quartz sample. It
was calculated that at least 70% of particles in the 2-3 ~tm size range were recovered.
However, it does seem that more fine gold is recovered than might be expected. Teague et al. (1999b)
suggested that this might arise from 'water recovery'. Pulp is swept into the froth layer where there are a lot
of air bubbles and relatively little solids, and while most of it drains back into the main pulp, some
overflows into the concentrate carrying fine gold and gangue particles with it.
Particle shape (Corey shape factor)
Particle shape certainly affects gold recovery in that flattened particles present a greater surface area to the
action of collector and air bubbles and settle more slowly in a fluid than cubes of equal mass. Native gold
occurs as irregular masses in ores and these tend to become flattened during grinding (Hallbauer and
Joughin, 1973; Pevzner et al., 1966) and are therefore more likely to float. Normal grinding circuits
produce flakey gold particles whatever the initial shape of the gold because of the malleable nature of gold.
In an attempt to give some quantitative measure of the degree of flatness of flakes, the Corey shape factor
(CSF) has been devised as discussed by Tourtelot and Riley (1973) and Wang and Poling (1983). This
factor is calculated as shown in Eq. 9, making reasonable allowance for the irregular shapes of most flakes.
T
CSF = ~ (9)
4L- w
where CSF = Corey shape factor
T = Thickness of particle (usually the smallest dimension
L = Length of particle
W = Width of particle
Some variations in CSF and associated parameters with change in particle shape in going from a cube to a
relatively thin flake are set out in Table 3. For the purposes of this paper, particles with Corey shape factors
of less than 0.3 are regarded as being flakey.
Composites and liberation
Composites of native gold with other minerals are an obvious potential problem with native gold flotation,
and the usual factors concerning mineral proportions and degree of exposure apply to gold-gangue
composites. However, gold-pyrite composites and gold composites with other sulphide minerals are not
really a problem because flotation of the sulphide mineral recovers the gold as well. Moreover, as already
mentioned, if gold is associated with a specific non-sulphide gangue mineral it may be possible to float that
mineral and so concentrate the gold in an economic fashion.
TABLE 3 Variations in Corey shape factor and other parameters for constant volume particles
Particle Dimensions of particle Volume of Area of largest Area of Corey

shape (TxLxW) * particle surface smallest shape
(rtm) (lam3) (faro2) surface factor
(~tm2)
Cube 10 x 10 x 10 1000 100 100 1.00
Prism A 7.5 x 11.5 x 11.5 1000 132 86 0.65
Prism B 5 x 14.1 x 14.1 1000 199 71 0.35
Flake A 3 x 18.2 x 18.2 1000 331 55 0.16
Flake B 3 x 16.7 x 20 1000 334 50 0.16
* T = Thickness; L = Length; W = Width.
Surface coatings on native gold
As noted in Table 1, many surface coatings have been reported to occur on native gold particles. Some of
these coatings are formed in situ in the orebody, especially in alluvial deposits, in oxidized surface deposits,
and in the upper levels of mines in outcropping orebodies. Most coatings are detrimental to flotation, but in
some cases the effects can be overcome.
If the coatings are metallic (e.g. mercury or high purity gold), they may not have much effect on the
floatability of the particles concerned. Coatings of silver salts may respond to thiol collectors, and they may
also respond to the judicious use of sulphidisation, as noted later. Some loosely adherent coatings, such as
slimes, may be removed by high intensity attritioning accompanied by the addition of dispersants such as
sodium silicate. Johns (1935) has shown that some organic coatings can be removed by conditioning with
sodium hydroxide or acid solution.
Perhaps the most difficult coatings to cope with are hydrated iron oxides which can form from oxidizing
pyrite in an orebody or from rusting iron from wear debris during treatment, as first reported by Head
(1935). This can form an almost invisible coating which was difficult to detect by the techniques available
at the time of Head's work, but might be more readily seen today. No method of overcoming this type of
coating seems to have been reported.
EFFECT OF ORE MINERALOGY AND OTHER MATERIALS
Ore mineralogy and the deportment of gold in various forms and sizes as well as preferential associations
of gold with other minerals are important factors in the application of flotation to gold-bearing ores and
especially to the selective flotation of native gold. Bulk flotation of gold with other minerals is a common
practice and few comments are warranted. Hence only some selected aspects are discussed here. Numerous
papers and some books have been published on the mineralogy of gold in ores (Schwartz; 1944; Edwards,
1947; Henley, 1975; Gasparrini, 1993; Dana and Ford, 1966), and a few additional references are cited
here.
Gold tellurides
Separate flotation of a concentrate containing native gold, gold tellurides, and a little pyrite has been
practised at Emperor Gold Mining Co Ltd, Fiji (Cornweil and Hisshion, 1976; Colbert, 1980a); Gold Mines
of Kalgoorlie (Aust) Ltd (GMK), Kalgoorlie (Smith, A.M., 1963); and at Great Boulder Gold Mines
Limited, Kalgoorlie (Smith, L.I., 1963). At Emperor, non-gold tellurides were also present and the
concentrate containing native gold and various tellurides was treated for the separate recovery of gold and
tellurium (Cornwell and Hisshion, 1976; Colbert, 1980b).
Reagents used varied at each plant but were basically a frother alone (Aerofroth 65 or Teric 407), plus
copper sulphate (at GMK), and sodium silicate and lime for clay depression (at Emperor). The froths were
lightly mineralized and were slimey. Concentrate grades were 2500 g/t Au at Emperor and 2100 g/t Au at
GMK in 0.5% of the feed weight.
At GMK (Smith, A.M., 1963) it was estimated from amalgamation tests that 37% of the gold in the
concentrate was present as native gold and that 86% of that could be further concentrated and recovered, if
desired, in a Wilfley table concentrate. It was also thought that a flotation separation between native gold
and tellurides could be made by depressing the native gold, possibly with cyanide, and floating the
tellurides with frother alone (e.g. Aerofroth 65).
Iron sulphide minerals
It is well known that the iron sulphide minerals arsenopyrite, pyrite, and pyrrhotite are host minerals for
native gold as well as 'invisible gold' (Aylmore and Graham, 1992). It is important to recognize, however,
that most of the native gold present in such minerals is not refractory, as it can be extracted by cyanidation,
though regrinding may be necessary, and this is practised at many operations.
It seems that it would be possible to make a pyrite-gold concentrate and then make a separation between
pyrite and native gold after regrinding the concentrate to liberate the gold from the pyrite. Appropriate
reagents could then be used to depress the pyrite, e.g. hydrogen peroxide as suggested by Monte et al.
(1997), and then float the gold. There could be advantages in doing this, such as reducing the gold content
of a concentrate going to a roaster, but the advantage may be small and this does not seem to have been
attempted commercially.
Flotation of gold-bearing iron sulphides is a much studied subject in theory and practice but is not
considered in detail here. Reviews by Broekman et al. (1987), and O'Connor and Dunne (1991, 1994),
have given general and specific details. Generally speaking, copper sulphate is added as an activator,
xanthates are used for collection, various depressants added for gangue control, and a suitable frother is
added as discussed by Klimpel (1999). The proportion of pyrite present is an important factor, as discussed
by Woodcock (1976). Problems can also occur when gold-containing pyrite and barren pyrite occur in the
same ore. Hansen and Killey (1990) have considered this.
Base metal sulphide minerals
Polymetallic base metal sulphide ores commonly contain gold in any, or even all, of the forms listed earlier.
Gold associated with a particular base metal mineral is recovered with that mineral, but recovery by
flotation of gold hosted by pyrite or non-sulphide gangue in such ores poses problems which can often not
be resolved economically. Coarse native gold can be recovered by gravity concentration, but fine native
gold, even if fully liberated, presents various difficulties. These are mainly associated with reagent
additions because many of the reagents used to depress flotation of pyrite and sphalerite (lime and cyanide)
in differential flotation of Cu-Pb-Zn-pyrite ores also depress native gold. It is preferable to float gold into
a copper concentrate where maximum payment is obtained for it.
B ulatovic (1997) discussed problems in treating copper-gold-pyrite ores containing gold in various forms,
including native gold and possibly auricupride (AuCu3), to achieve a high recovery of copper and gold in a
copper-gold concentrate. He considered various reagent changes that affected gold recovery in lime
circuits, but it was not clear whether, or how, these changes were affecting native gold recovery or gold
hosted by other minerals. He also showed that various flowsheet changes could have significant effects on
gold recovery from specific ores.
It has been claimed that when treating copper-gold ores, Aero 7249 Promotor (a monothio phosphate)
gives better recovery of native gold (Hartati et al., 1997) and better selectivity of gold over sulphide
minerals (Forrest et al., 2001).
Other possibilities include the use of soda ash circuits for pH control and the application of dithiophosphate
collectors, which have less tendency than xanthates to float pyrite. In addition, it might be possible to use a
frother alone in conjunction with flash flotation as discussed later.
Slimes, clay minerals, and pyrophyllite
Slimes, in general, are detrimental to the flotation of native gold. They can consume reagents, they may
lead to slime coatings on gold particles and thereby decrease gold recovery, they often have some natural
floatability and so decrease concentrate grades, they can form sticky and unmanageable froths, and they
form viscous hard-to-aerate pulps. These problems are often exacerbated when dealing with primary slime
obtained from treating weathered and oxidized near-surface deposits mined by open cut methods. Such
deposits may contain soft hydrated iron and manganese oxides, decomposed slate minerals, micas, clays,
and especially pyrophyllite.
Methods of dealing with these ores include separating the primary slime during crushing for separate
treatment, desliming the ground ore for separate treatment of granular and slime fractions (e.g. Colbert,
1980a), and adding reagents to depress the slime during flotation.
Leaver and Woolf (1934b), who were among the first to conduct experiments on a variety of synthetic and
real ores, showed that a crude starch derived from potatoes, rice, or flour was an effective depressant for
talc and talcose material. They found that this starch did not affect gold flotation recovery, when using
Cytec (formerly American Cyanamid Co) reagents 208 and 301 (Cytec Industries Inc, 1989) until over
1250 g/t of starch was added. Depending on the ore sample, gold concentrate grades were 300-1500 g/t Au
and gold recoveries were 92-97%. Generally similar results were obtained when treating ores containing
bentonite clay, or goethite (limonite).
In the Witwatersrand area of South Africa, where pyrophyllite is a major problem at some mines, the
problem is tackled by desliming, the use of depressants such as Acrol J2P 350 (a substituted guar) (Cabassi
et al., 1983) and operation at high pH (about 11) with lime (Bushell, 1970; Duchen and Carter, 1986;
Broekman et al., 1987).
Other non-sulphide gangue minerals
Schwartz (1944) has recorded the many gangue minerals that can host native gold and has reported that the
gold does not replace the host mineral. It seems that such gold is readily liberated by grinding the minerals
and can then be floated if in the appropriate size range. As discussed elsewhere, if a particular gold-gangue
mineral association exists, then it might be possible and advantageous to float that particular mineral.
Common non-sulphide, non-clay minerals, such as quartz, silicates in general, carbonates, and iron oxides,
are generally found to have little effect on flotation of native gold with thiol collectors. However, it has
been suggested that the use of high pH values with lime to depress pyrophyllite may lead to calcium
activation of quartz (Broekman et al., 1987). While this would not be a problem if thiol collectors were
being used, it could be a problem if some other collectors are being used. No examples of this were noted
during preparation of this review.
Carbonaceous material
Carbon, apart from that present as carbonate minerals, can occur in gold ores in amounts up to several per
cent. The form of this carbon ranges from graphite, which is often innocuous from a treatment point of
view, to the so-called carbonaceous matter (Saxby, 1975; Afenya, 1991). This latter form may contain 80%
C and consists of active elemental carbon, hydrocarbons, and organic acids (Saxby, 1975; Afenya, 1991). It
is active in the sense that it is "preg-robbing" (it adsorbs the gold cyanide complex from cyanidation leach
solutions and also interferes with flotation). Its general effects have been reviewed by Afenya (1991),
Marsden and House (1992), and Broekman et al., (1987). In Witwatersrand ores, thucholite (now
preferably called kerogen or uraniferous kerogen), an association of organic matter, uraninite, and gold is
sometimes present (Anhaeusser et al., 1987) and this can cause various problems. Lloyd (1978, 1981)
advocates its recovery from Witwatersrand ores to improve gold recovery.
Two flotation treatments are possible. These are to either float a gold-free concentrate of carbon while
depressing gold and sulphide minerals, or to depress the carbonaceous matter while floating gold and
pyrite. The former method was used at Mclntyre Porcupine (Nice, 1971) after recovery of coarse gold in a
jig. Carbonaceous matter in the jig tailing was floated with fuel oil, which preferentially coated the
carbonaceous matter, plus MIBC as a frother. Quebracho was added to depress gold and auriferous pyrite
but a small amount of gold did report in the carbon concentrate. A gold-pyrite concentrate was then floated
using Aerofloat 25, Dowfroth 250, and JCM (a dextrin-quar-lignosol reagent supplied by Stein Hall). This
latter reagent acted as a gangue and graphite depressant).
The other approach of depressing carbonaceous matter while floating gold is advocated by Cytec Industries
(1989), which claims that its Aero 600 depressant series were used successfully at many mines. These
reagents were developed for that purpose. They are thought to contain various dyes and wood extracts.
Aero 633 depressant appears to be the most effective and is used in amounts ranging from 50 g/t to 450 g/t
based on flotation feed. Additions need to be controlled carefully as excess reagent can depress pyrite and
probably gold.
Saxby (1975) has shown that nigrosine, which is similar to Aero 633 depressant, tends to adsorb on the
organic carbonaceous material (because of its large surface area), rather than on quartz, metal sulphide
minerals, or other inorganic minerals. The reagent is possibly adsorbed as planar anionic micelles attached
to the carbonaceous surfaces by van der Waals and ion exchange attractive interactions.
Non-ore materials
Various non-ore materials can enter the mill feed and affect native gold flotation. These include ferrous
wear debris, timber and plant matter, cement fill, electrical wiring, ANFO (ammonium nitrate/fuel oil mix),
various metal pieces from mining equipment, rubber in various forms, and oil and grease. All of these can
occur, but some would generally have only short-term effects, and only the first three are discussed here.
Ferrous wear detritus
Ferrous wear detritus is derived from crushers, grinding units (mill liners and grinding media), pumps,
pipelines, and other equipment. Most of this is in steel alloys and cast iron alloys and is not necessarily
very reactive but may have effects.
Head (1935) recognized hydrated iron oxides on the surfaces of gold particles in tailings, especially on
those in contact with iron, and believed that the iron oxide came from rusting of the iron. This would be
less likely to occur with many of the steels used today. Zimmerley (1937) found that some gold in an ore
could be smeared on abraded iron during grinding and recovered by magnetic separation from ground
pulps. The more severe the grinding conditions the more gold was associated with the abraded iron. Hence
magnetic separation offers a possible way of recovering such gold from flotation tailings if substantial
amounts are formed in a particular plant.
Teague et al. (1999b) presented some results on the addition of up to 5 kg/t of metallic iron of unspecified
nature or composition to a flotation feed. They dry ground a gold ore containing native gold, pyrite, and
pyrrhotite and then floated the ground product with copper sulphate, either potassium amyl xanthate or a
trithiocarbonate, and a polypropylene glycol frother. They assessed the results by measuring the cyanide-
soluble gold (which they called 'free gold') in the products. Undissolved gold was termed 'refractory gold'.
They reported that the 'free gold' recovery was decreased from 70% to 64% when adding 5 kg/t iron and
using amyl xanthate, but was increased from 70% to 77% when using the trithiocarbonate. About 88% of
the pyrite but only 29-69% of the pyrrhotite was recovered which was ascribed to oxidation during the dry
grinding stage. It is doubtful what relevance these results have to a real situation.
Timber and vegetation
Timber and plant matter can enter a flotation plant feed when treating near-surface ore or tailing dumps, ore
from underground operations, and open cut ore when mining through previous underground operations.
Such materials, especially when ground and contacted with alkaline solution (pH > 9) yield various water-
soluble organic extractives. These can include pine oil and eucalyptus oil or other tertiary alcohols that
have frothing and/or gangue collecting properties. In addition they can contain tannins and similar
compounds which have strong depressing effects on many minerals as well as oxygen-consuming effects.
Selby and Woodcock (1977) have shown that various eucalypt timbers in flotation feeds have substantial
detrimental effects, including depression of minerals and frothing problems, on flotation of a chalcopyrite
ore. No specific work has been done on a gold ore, but one would expect similar effects to be observed.
Cement fill
Cement fill, a mixture of cement and deslimed flotation or cyanidation tailings, can also enter flotation feed
from underground mines, and concrete can be introduced when open cut mining is conducted through
previous underground mines.
Fresh cement fill, especially when ground in a plant, can be detrimental to native gold flotation because it
has an alkaline reaction and also introduces calcium ions into the pulp. Both the hydroxide and calcium
ions can be depressants for native gold. This is most likely to be detrimental if flotation is being conducted
at natural pH. However, in acid solution it may not be important, and in a sodium carbonate circuit the
carbonate will precipitate the calcium ions.
C H E M I C A L CONDITIONS AND REAGENTS FOR NATIVE GOLD F L O T A T I O N
As Taggart (1945, Section 12, pp. 117-118) has pointed out, conditions required for native gold flotation
from an ore are often apparently contradictory in aiming for differentiation between gold and other
minerals. Simple reagent combinations can be adequate for simple siliceous ores containing a little pyrite,
but more complex combinations may be needed for polymetallic base metal ores and clay-containing ores.
Some of the reagents and chemical conditions needed for native gold flotation are discussed below.
pH
The pH of the flotation feed is an important factor in native gold flotation even though gold can float over a
pH range of about 3 to 11 (Broekman et al., 1987). The value used in a plant depends on the nature of the
feed, the presence or otherwise of "wanted" or "unwanted" pyrite, and of pyrophyllite or similar minerals.
Pyrite and its occluded gold floats best in either acid solution (pH 4) or alkaline solution (pH 8), especially
when low collector additions are used (Fuerstenau et al., 1968). Thus gold and pyrite can be readily floated
together, but separated with more difficulty.
In Australia, native gold (and pyrite) flotation has mostly been conducted in soda ash circuit at about pH 8-
9 (Elvey and Woodcock, 1965; Woodcock, 1980; and Woodcock and Hamilton, 1993). However, after
gassing a cyanidation tailing with sulphur dioxide to reactivate cyanide-depressed pyrite, flotation has been
conducted at about pH 6 (Blaskett and Woodcock, 1953; Elvey and Woodcock, 1965).
In South Africa, the preferred pH ranges are 3-4 and 10-11.5 (Broekman et al., 1987; Bushell, 1970). Acid
circuits (pH 3-4) are preferred for floating uranium acid leach residues, old tailing dumps which are acidic,
and some cyanidation residues (Hodgkinson et al., 1994). Alkaline circuits (pH 10-11.5 with lime) are
preferred when the ore contains pyrophyllite, because pyrophyllite floats readily in the pH range 5-9
(Broekman et al., 1987; O'Connor and Dunne, 1994).
In Canada, alkaline circuits are mostly used (MacKay et al., 1978).
Redox potential (Eh)
In studying the electrochemical aspects of gold flotation, as discussed earlier, workers such as Gardner and
Woods (1974, 1977), Woods et al. (1994, 1995), and Leppinen et al. (1991), have established the electrode
potentials at which certain gold-xanthate reactions occur. Whether or not these values can be usefully
applied in actual flotation plants has yet to be established. Ralston (1991) reviewed Eh and its
consequences in sulphide mineral flotation and concluded that the measurement and interpretation of Eh
values is still controversial. He noted that to vary the "air-set" potential by several hundred millivolts, as
done by Heyes and Trahar (1977) in studying collectorless chalcopyrite flotation, was technically possible
but probably uneconomic in most cases. He suggested that changes of the order of +_. 50 mV could be
possible. However, he did not explain how this could be done in a controlled way in a plant. To do this with
strong oxidising or reducing agents would certainly affect many of the other reagents present, especially
xanthate, and this would be undesirable.
Woodcock and Jones (1970) were among the first to actually measure redox potentials (Eh) in gold
flotation plants. They used a platinum (Pt) electrode versus a saturated calomel electrode (SCE) in the
flotation feed of the Gold Mines of Kalgoorlie gold-pyrite recovery plant at Kalgoorlie, WA. Xanthate was
being used as a collector, the pH was 8.3-8.4, and the oxygen content of the pulp was 74-78% of
saturation. The plant was operating normally and smoothly at the time. They obtained Eh values (Pt versus
SCE) in the range -50 mV to -100 mV. It was not clear what these values represented and how they could
be easily varied. Hintikka and Leppinen (1995) suggested that some control could be exercised by varying
the proportion of oxygen and nitrogen in the gas phase used in flotation. They also suggested that Eh values
between +10 mV and +60 mV (Pt versus SCE) were in the optimum range for native gold flotation.
The presence of metallic iron from wear debris can affect the redox potential (Teague et al., 1999b) by
galvanic reaction with other minerals but the effects seem to be small.
Collectors
Collectors are perhaps the most important reagents used in the flotation of native gold. As such, the
literature that includes some mention of collectors used for native gold flotation is voluminous. Hence this
section does not attempt to mention all known examples of literature detailing native gold collectors; rather,
we have chosen to mention examples of various aspects. For general information, several reviews exist of
both the flotation of gold (O'Connor and Dunne, 1994; Wang and Poling, 1983; Broekman et al., 1987;
Marsden and House, 1992) and of reagents (Klimpel, 1980, 1997, 1999; Nagaraj, 1994). Nagaraj et al.
(1988) and Nagaraj (1997) presented excellent reviews of so-called "new" collectors. Clearly, one of the
major factors in determining which is the most efficacious collector system is the nature of the ore.
Different collectors are reviewed below by chemical type. Dose rates of collector mentioned in the non-
patent literature are between 40 and 500 g/t and in the patent literature between 0.5 and 500 g/t. Certainly in
terms of low addition rates the patent literature appears to be covering every eventuality, even those that
may not be practical. These dose rates are, of course, dependent on the mineralogy of the ore and the grade
of the feed so that quantitative comparisons between ores do not serve much purpose.
Xanthates
Easily the most common collector components used for the flotation of native gold are the xanthates (either
individually, or in mixtures). Generally the length of the alkyl chain attached to the xanthate head group
varies between two and five. The longer the alkyl chain the "stronger" is the collecting power of the
collector (Taggart, 1945; Sutherland and Wark, 1955), but the poorer the selectivity. Wang and Poling
(1983) discuss batch data that demonstrate that fine placer gold readily floats with butyl xanthate at an
addition rate of 75-500 g/t depending on the source of the feed. Lins and Adamian (1993a) used amyl
xanthate to float coarse gold up to 0.71 mm from a synthetic mixture with quartz. It should be noted that
this upper size limit for flotation is at least twice as high as that found by most other workers. These results
were obtained with an addition rate of as little as 50 g/t; however, in that study the concentration of the
feed, agitation rate, and aeration rate had been carefully optimized in a 1.5 L batch cell, which may not be
possible in a plant environment. In some cases combinations of xanthates are used. For example, in the
1960s Gold Mines of Kalgoorlie were using either a combination of ethyl and amyl xanthate (140 g/t in
total) or hexyl and propyl xanthate (120 g/t in total), depending on the collecting strength required (Elvey
and Woodcock, 1965).
Dithiophosphates
Dithiophospates are also used in practice, but to a smaller degree. There are some reports of
dithiophosphate used as the sole collector that resulted in good separations. De Kok (1975) reports that at
high pH dithiophosphate is very selective for liberated gold over pyrite. Porphyry copper-gold ores give
higher gold recoveries with a dithiophosphate collector added at 40 g/t rather than with potassium amyl
xanthate (Bulatovic, 1997). The enhanced selectivity of gold is both with respect to pyrite and chalcopyrite.
The dithiophosphate was also superior to a mixture of xanthate and dithiophosphate. The exact
mineralogical nature of the particular ores is not specified; however, the lack of linear dependence of gold
recovery with both copper and pyrite and the general nature of the ores suggests that a large portion of the
gold is native or at least liberated following grinding.
Xanthate/dithiophosphate mixtures
The most common collector scheme is to use a mixture of xanthates and dithiophosphates (sometimes
referred to as a promoter or a secondary collector in this circumstance). For instance, a mixture of
secondary butyl xanthate and Aerofloat 25 (a dithiophosphate with p-methyl-benzyl hydrophobic groups)
2:1 (w/w) at 68 g/t was used to separate native gold from a variety of sulphides for a recovery of 82 % of
the gold from the flotation feed (Bushell, 1970). Note that both the collector and promoter have fairly
"strong" (large in a relative sense) hydrophobic groups.
One of the most often quoted papers regarding the use of collectors in the flotation of native gold is by
Leaver and Woolf (1934a). In their work, potassium amyl xanthate was used to float pre-cleaned native
gold from mixtures with ground sea sand or ground sea sand plus pyrite. The major conclusion that is often
quoted from their paper is that Aerofloat 208 promoter is the most effective promoter tried in that work.
Other reagents used were copper sulphate (activator), xanthate (collector), Aerofloat 15 (promoter), and
pine oil (frother). Addition rates were between 80 and 100 g/t of total collector/promoter. The Aerofloat 15
is an acid form of a dithiophosphate with p-methyl-benzyl group as the hydrophobic group. This reagent
had a considerable excess of cresol resulting in frothing properties. No reagent is currently manufactured
under this name. The present authors would like to urge caution when designing a reagent scheme with
Aerofloat 208. Firstly, the conclusion regarding Aerofloat 208 is based upon comparing two tests, with
similar reagent additions except that in the second test more Aerofloat 15 was added (relative to the amount
of gold present) as well as 208, which was not used in the first test. Therefore, to ascribe the increase in
recovery to the presence of Aerofloat 208 alone is unwise. Secondly, the difference in recoveries for
particles less than 250 lam is only minor. That improvements were seen in the flotation of larger particles
was seen when there was more collector/promoter added than is normally expected. We should also say,
that notwithstanding the preceding comments, Leaver and Woolf's paper (1934a) was a seminal
contribution for its time and is an excellent example of the use of a collector in tandem with a promoter.
A xanthate/dithiophosphate mixture is commonly used in applications in which native gold occurs with
invisible gold, or gold not liberated from sulphides. This combination of reagents is efficient for both
sulphides and native gold, and this allows both sulphide (e.g. pyrite) and gold products to be produced. To
obtain a metallic gold product, further processing such as cyanidation can be carried out. Bushell (1970)
and Jiang et al. (1989) give examples of treatment of this type of orebody.
Other collector types
Several other collector types are reported in the literature (many of them in the patent literature), mostly by
reagent companies. Some of these (and modifications of them) are discussed by Nagaraj (1997) and
Nagaraj et al. (1988). They include monothiophosphates (Fleming, 1990), dithiophosphinates, thioureas,
and thionocarbamates. Other collector functionalities reported are mercaptobenzothiazoles, carbamates
(0.5-500 g/t) (Di Biase and Bush, 1991), aikylhydroxamates (2-400 g/t) (Nagaraj, 1992) and an
allylalkylthionocarbamate mixed with a dithiophosphate (75-95%/5-25% w/w; 2-200 g/t) (Roberts et al.,
1993).
As noted earlier, it is incorrect of Klimpel (1999) and others to claim that many collectors are insoluble in
water. They are sparingly soluble, and have distinctive UV spectra (Jones and Woodcock, 1973).
The future of collector discovery
Nagaraj (1994, 1997) provides excellent reviews describing the chemistries of various new reagents. It is
stressed in these reviews that new collectors developed in the laboratory mostly never approach the
commercialization phase. If new reagents are commercialized their use appears to be in niche markets at
best. The major factors working against the development of new collectors are that xanthates are relatively
cheap to produce, already can achieve greater than 90% recovery, depending on the ore, and do not require
high dose rates. This issue is discussed eloquently by Nagaraj (1994), and indeed 45 years ago Sutherland
and Wark (1955) commented that there appears to be little likelihood of an as-yet-untried reagent being
cheaper than xanthate or having properties vastly different than reagents then (and currently) being used.
Frothers
In earlier times pine oil (Leaver and Woolf, 1934a) and cresylic acid were the major frothers used. MIBC and
polypropylene glycol oligomers (e.g. Aerofroth 65) are now easily the most common. Frother types are
summarised in Marsden and House (1992, pp. 435--436). A point worth noting, as mentioned above, is that
liquid dithiophosphate (e.g. Aerofloat 25 and 31) can also provide some frothing power. Indeed, mixed frothers
are now becoming commonplace depending on the strength or stiffness of froth required. Klimpel (1999) gives
an excellent summary of the factors to be considered in mixed frother selection.
Depressants for native gold
Although the need for depressants for native gold is usually unlikely, a need might arise if it was desired to
conduct a gold-free talc float or float of carbonaceous material, or to separate native gold from tellurides in
a mixed concentrate. It is currently uncertain whether it would be easier to depress the gold or the gold
tellurides. More importantly perhaps, is the need to not inadvertently depress native gold while depressing
other minerals. Depressants for native gold (Taggart, 1945; Broekman et al., 1987; Marsden and House,
1992; Lins and Adamian, 1993b) are said to include hydroxyl ions (pH greater than 11); calcium ions;
calcium carbonate, formed by precipitating calcium ions with carbon dioxide from the air; cyanide in
various forms (e.g. cyanide ions, cuprocyanides); sodium sulphide; sodium sulphite and sulphur dioxide;
sodium silicate; tannin and related compounds; starch; heavy metal ions; and many others. All of these can
possibly act by competitive adsorption, thus preventing the adsorption of xanthate or other collector on the
gold surface. Sodium sulphide could possibly also act by poisoning the reduction of oxygen, although this
would only apply with certain types of collector. Sulphite could also act by removing oxygen altogether
from the pulp.
However, flotation of native gold often proceeds satisfactorily in the presence of these reagents. In general,
the results reported by different authors are not in good agreement.
Activators for native gold
Clean native gold does not require activation to be floated with thiol collectors such as xanthates and
dithiophosphates. However, "dirty" or coated gold might respond to the action of an activator. In addition
an activator may be helpful in the presence of a depressant or to float previously depressed gold.
Sodium carbonate is a common additive as it precipitates most heavy metal ions and calcium ions, and
buffers the solution in the pH range of 8-9, which is favourable for native gold flotation. Copper sulphate is
well-known as an activator for iron sulphides and sphalerite, but copper is less noble than gold so would
not be expected to activate gold in spite of statements to the contrary. Copper sulphate has been reported by
Leaver and Woolf (1932, 1934a) and Duchen and Carter (1986) to increase the flotation rate of gold but the
mechanism by which it could do that is not clear. One possibility is that it could activate metallic iron and
so help the flotation of gold-iron composites formed during grinding.
Sodium sulphide can be a depressant, as noted above, when used in either insufficient or excessive
amounts, but when used in the correct concentration it can function as an activator; however, there is an
optimum addition. This was recognised by Leaver and Woolf (1935). It should be possible to control the
sulphide ion concentration at an optimum level with the use of a sulphide ion selective electrode, as is done
for oxidized copper and lead ores (e.g. Jones and Woodcock, 1978), and achieve improved results.
Sulphur dioxide has been used at Kalgoorlie (e.g. Blaskett and Woodcock, 1953; Elvey and Woodcock,
1965) to reactivate cyanide-depressed pyrite and associated precipitated metallic gold for flotation.
Air or oxygen
Oxygen is essential for flotation of native gold with thiol collectors as discussed earlier. This does not seem
to be a problem in most gold flotation plants. Woodcock and Jones (1970) have shown that in three gold
flotation plants, oxygen concentrations in the flotation sections were about 80-95% of saturation or about 7
mg/L. Residual xanthate was also present in these plants.
Duchen and Carter (1986) found that excessive aeration, that is, provision of excess air bubbles in a pre-
flotation conditioner, was detrimental to gold flotation. By changing from an air-agitated conditioner to a
mechanically agitated unit a greatly improved grade-recovery relationship was obtained.
On the other hand, Simmons et al. (1999) believed that the presence of oxygen was detrimental in floating
a gold-pyrite ore that was relatively easily oxidized. Potassium amyl xanthate was used as the collector.
They went to great trouble and expense to completely exclude air and to use nitrogen in the whole
treatment circuit of grinding and flotation. They claimed a 3% increase in gold recovery by doing this, but
the reason was not clear.
Other reagents
Most other reagents used in gold flotation plants, such as viscosity modifiers used as a grinding aid,
flocculants used to thicken flotation concentrates, and filter aids used to help dry filter cakes, can possibly
appear in flotation feed by recycling of process water. No reports of these reagents having an effect on
native gold flotation were found, but the possibility should not be discounted.
Water quality
Good quality water is preferred for native gold flotation. In Western Australia where no fresh water is
available, highly saline (including hyper-saline) water, containing a variety of salts, is used and acceptable
results are achieved. However, dam return water from cyanide-containing residues is clearly undesirable, as
it is liable to contain a number of detrimental constituents, and this may also apply to water from sewage
treatment.
Klimpel (1999) maintains that dam return water from plants using xanthate to float gold and pyrite contains
xanthate decomposition compounds, which are detrimental to flotation of gold. It was not stated what these
compounds might be. None of the known, stable xanthate decomposition products (Hao et al., 2000) seem
likely to have any effect.
PHYSICAL AND ENGINEERING CONDITIONS OF NATIVE GOLD F L O T A T I O N
Physical conditions are an important part of practical native gold flotation and are dealt with briefly here.
Some experimental work has been reported based on the traditional method of fixing most of the known
variables and varying selected variables in turn. This is probably inadequate in some ways as the interplay
of the variables is known to be important and can greatly affect the results, but it may be helpful in general
understanding of the system. Clearly, a series of studies taking into account some multifactorial
experimental design may allow the variables to be decoupled. The discussion here is largely based on
publications by Duchen and Carter (1986), Broekman et al. (1987), and Lins and Adamian (1993a), with
other selected references.
Pre-flotation treatment
Pre-flotation treatment includes grinding to liberate the native gold, which is considered earlier,
classification into slime and granular fractions for separate treatment, which is practised in several plants,
and conditioning with appropriate reagents as discussed here.
On many freshly ground simple ores, there is no need for a separate conditioning stage, except for the
addition of alkali to the grinding circuit. Flotation reagents are generally added directly to the feed box on a
bank of cells and possibly at various points along the bank. However, when activation, re-activation, or
depression of specific minerals is required, then conditioning with appropriate reagents for a suitable time
is practised. Thus activation of superficially oxidized gold-bearing iron sulphide minerals is commonly
done with copper sulphate, and this is variously reported to increase the recovery of gold but to either
increase or decrease the rate of gold flotation. Re-activation of iron sulphide minerals after depression with
cyanide and lime or other treatment may be accomplished in several ways. These include acidification with
sulphuric acid, or the addition of copper sulphate, or gassing with sulphur dioxide and then aeration to
remove or oxidize excess sulphur dioxide, or even some combination of these techniques.
Depression of gangue minerals is achieved by adding one or more of a wide range of depressants including
starch, dextrin, guars and other reagents, as discussed earlier.
Duchen and Carter (1986) studied the effect of copper sulphate, pH, conditioning time, grind size, intensity
of agitation, and type of agitation (air or mechanical agitation) on alkaline flotation of gold, uranium, and
pyrite on Witwatersrand-type ores. An important finding was that high intensity mechanical conditioning
with minimum air entrainment gave substantially increased recovery and concentrate grades than when air-
agitated conditioning was used. This finding held for both laboratory and plant operation. They suggested
that this aspect needs further study; however, the writers are not aware of such work being published in the
open literature.
Pulp density
Pulp densities in gold flotation plants tend to be in the range 25-45 % solids in rougher circuits and 10-20
% in cleaner circuits as discussed by Broekman et al. (1987), and Lins and Adamian (1993a). The latter
authors summarised earlier work on the topic. Lange (1935) suggests that 30% solids is to be preferred.
Generally speaking, it is believed that higher pulp densities give lower concentrate grades but better
recoveries of gold and pyrite than lower pulp densities and hence should be used in rougher circuits. Coarse
mineral particles and high density minerals (especially native gold) float better in such pulps. However,
lamellar (flakey) particles (e.g. flattened native gold) tend to float better in more dilute pulps. Cases have
been reported of good gold recovery in rougher circuits, but the gold then fails to float satisfactorily in the
cleaner circuits.
This problem may be rectified by adjustment of the frother regime as it is related to froth character and the
amount of mineral actually in the froth. Sometimes a small amount of slime in the froth helps to stabilize it.
Flotation of gold ores containing very little pyrite gives lightly mineralized froths, even with relatively high
pulp densities in the flotation feed. This is believed to aid recovery of very fine gold particles by increasing
water transfer into the froth, which carries fine gold with it, and increases the chance of such particles
contacting an air bubble and then being retained in the froth. This helps to explain a recovery of fine gold
that is higher than expected when compared to that predicted in more conventional flotation systems. High
concentrations of pyrite in the froth tend to crowd out fine particles of gold. Experiments by Lins and
Adamian (1993a) tend to confirm this premise.
Pulp temperature
Pulp temperature can have a big effect on the flotation of pyrite and presumably on native gold. O'Connor
et al. (1984) obtained much better grade-recovery curves at 52°C than at 3°C. Part of the effect may be due
to changes in pulp and froth viscosity with the higher temperatures giving much lower viscosity values and
therefore affecting flotation and gangue entrainment. Hence, differences can be observed in plant
performance in winter and summer. However, this can be overcome by other plant adjustments and no
examples of plant temperature control in gold flotation plants were noted in this work.
Aeration and stirring rate
Aeration (the amount of air and the number and size of air bubbles forced or induced in the pulp), the
stirring rate, and the flotation cell impeller speed, can be important variables in native gold flotation. In
normal plant operation, impeller speed can only be altered by mechanical adjustment and cannot be used
for real time process control. Bubble size distribution is also important. As gold is such a dense mineral it
needs to adhere to a relatively larger bubble than do most other minerals of comparable size.
Aeration can be changed fairly readily provided a constant pressure (not a constant volume) blower is used.
Increasing the amount of aeration from zero to a higher level increases flotation recovery at first but a
maximum is reached. Further increase in aeration gives an unacceptable increase in gangue entrainment,
and a decrease in pulp volume in the cell leading to a shorter flotation time (Broekman et al., 1987). Lins
and Adamian (1993a) give some specific examples in terms of changes in concentrate grade and gold
recovery for different particle sizes of gold.
Valderrama and Rubio (1998) maintain that high intensity conditioning (HIC) can result in the carrier
flotation of fine gold particles.
Flotation cell type
Many cell types from many manufacturers have been used for gold flotation, and nearly all of these have
been operated to achieve acceptable results on specific ores. It is always possible, however, that a particular
design is capable of giving the 'best' result; that is, the most profitable result, in a particular plant on a
particular ore. This is impracticable to ascertain.
It has been suggested that shallow cells are to be preferred for floating relatively coarse gold and that
mechanically agitated cells may be preferable to column (air-agitated) flotation cells. At Placer Dome's
Campbell plant, Canada, Chong et al. (1999) found that the installation of mechanically agitated cells in
place of flotation columns for scavenging duty improved gold recovery by an average of 5% or 0.36 g/t.
For unit cell or flash flotation of coarse and fine newly liberated native gold in grinding circuits (Dorr and
Bosqui, 1950, pp. 130-132), special cells are required to handle the high pulp densities (70% solids or
more) and the coarse ore particles present. Recent designs to achieve this have been discussed by
McCulloch (1990), Fricker and Keyte (1990), and Bourke (1995, 1999).
SELECTED EXAMPLES OF THE FLOTATION OF NATIVE GOLD IN ORES
Besides appropriate reagents and flotation conditions, a suitable flowsheet is required to achieve
satisfactory flotation recovery of native gold. No attempt is made here to discuss the dozens or hundreds of
flowsheets that have been tailored to suit specific orebodies and changing technology over the years.
However, it is worth noting that flotation of native gold can be applied in the following ways.
. Bulk flotation of all gold-bearing minerals (native gold, gold tellurides, other rare gold minerals, and
auriferous iron sulphide minerals) in a relatively small weight of concentrate (say 1-5% of feed
weight) for intensive treatment, while producing a discardable flotation tailing (Fig. 4). This can be
economically advantageous as it substantially reduces the overall plant cost. It could also be preferable
in environmentally-sensitive areas as it reduces the quantity of tailing needing detoxification. However
if the flotation tailing contains economically valuable amounts of cyanide-soluble gold, which is often
the case, then ore cyanidation may be preferred.
Review of flotation of native gold and electrum 955
Crushed lode or open cut

Water
, WET;L, G ,
I O|er
-v OF COARSE GOLD
unde~- F I
flow flow Tailing Coarse gold
_1 Too,.!~d,.~
for gola recovery telling dam
Fig. 4 Flowsheet for rougher-scavenger-cleaner flotation of a gold ore containing native gold and a few
per cent of pyrite to recover the gold and the pyrite. The dotted lines indicate the material flow if it
is necessary to recovery the coarse gold by gravity methods.
. The application of unit flotation cells in grinding circuits for 'flash flotation' of freshly liberated gold,
especially that in the intermediate size ranges (Fig. 5). This can supplement or supplant gravity
concentration and lead to a higher overall recovery of native gold.
Fine crushed ore
Water
BALL MILL
i _1 r
I CYCLONE l
Overflow
I Underflow
I
FLASH FLOTATION
1
CELL
l
Flash Coarse and
flotation fine flash
conc flotation tail
To main To
1 1
flotation final
circuit concentrate
Fig. 5 Flowsheet for flash flotation of native gold from the primary cyclone underflow in a grinding circuit.
3. Production of low grade gravity concentrates to achieve high recoveries of fine gold from an alluvial
deposit, followed by flotation treatment of the gravity concentrates to separate the gold for direct
smelting or cyanidation (Fig. 6). This could be preferred to the complex gravity and magnetic gold
upgrading circuits that are sometimes used. The flotation step could be conducted by froth flotation in
mechanical or column cells or by table flotation.
956 G. C. Allan and J. T. Woodcock
4. Collectorless flotation of naturally-floating native gold, possibly with the addition of selected
conditioning reagents, and with the addition of a frother. The concentrate would be cyanided or
smelted depending on its mineralogical composition. The method could be used to obtain a separate
gold concentrate from base metal ores, but not necessarily a high recovery. This could be economically
advantageous, as gold is more valuable in a gold concentrate than in a base metal concentrate.
. Collector-assisted flotation of native gold from iron sulphide or base metal ores with the same aims as
for the previous method.
. Following cyanidation of a gold ore, it may be appropriate to float any remaining undissolved gold
minerals, including native gold and auriferous iron sulphides, for intensive treatment.
. Flotation of native gold in acid circuit after acid leaching the ore for the extraction of copper or
uranium or both.
. Flotation of native gold with copper sulphide minerals, while rejecting barren pyrite, to give a copper-
gold concentrate. This is a common problem in the treatment of porphyry copper ores.
. Separate flotation of slime and granular fractions of an ore to give improved overall recovery of native
gold.
Alluvialgold deposit
.............. t
ROUGHER-
1
GRAVITY I
SCAVENGER CONCENTRATIONI
GRAVITY AND
CONCENTRATION REDRESSING
Ro!gher S~lv Co!rse Tailings
conc tail gold
' ..... 1 1
ROUGHER-SCAVENGER
FLOTATION
I
Rougher &scav
I
Scav
concentrates tail
To cya!idation To dredge pond

for gold recovery or tailing dam
Fig. 6 Flowsheet for the application of flotation to concentrate fine native gold from an alluvial deposit.
The dotted lines indicate alternative material flows.
CONCLUSION
In this review of the flotation of native gold and electrum from ores several interesting features have been
revealed. The main conclusions are as follows.
There is still doubt about whether or not all native gold, particularly that from lode ores, has an inherent
natural floatability, and this warrants further investigation. As a corollary, it would be valuable to
determine if the apparent natural floatability of some gold is conferred by chemical alteration of the
surface, work hardening of gold particles during natural processes or comminution, or differences in the
composition of the gold. The practical importance of this is related to the pre-flotation of high grade gold
concentrates from base metal or other ores without the use of reagents other than a small amount of a
frother.
Understanding of the chemistry and electrochemistry of native gold flotation has advanced in recent years,
particularly for xanthates, but a better knowledge of the chemistry of other collectors and of the role of pulp
redox potential in practical flotation could be useful. It is arguable if there is a need to develop better
collectors than the traditional xanthates and dithiophosphates. Unless an inexpensive gold-specific collector
can be developed, there seems to be little point in considering other collectors.
Flash flotation of native gold in grinding circuits can reduce over-grinding of coarse gold and lead to
significant increases in gold recovery on specific ores. New developments in flotation cell design are
helping to make this technique readily applicable in new and existing plants.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This paper was originally prepared as a confidential report to Rio Tinto Technical Services, Melbourne, and
we thank the company for permission to publish the results. We gratefully acknowledge the help of Mr R.
Ruzbacky in preparing the triangular phase diagram in Fig. 1, and Mr W.J. Bruckard for his many helpful
comments.
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Minerals Engineering, Vol. 14, No. 9, pp.

G.C. ALLAN and J.T. WOODCOCK

CSIRO Minerals, Box 312, Clayton South, Vic, 3169, Australia.

General chemical conditions involved in flotation include collectors (xanthates, dithiophosphates,

NATURE OF GOLD IN ORES

M o d e s o f gold occurrence in minerals and ores

Property Specific value and/or comment Selected references

FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF NATIVE GOLD FLOTATION

Ore type Forms of gold Major sulphide Problem minerals

Oxidized and Native Nil Pyrophyllite

* Coarse gold, if present, is recovered by gravity concentration.

Natural floatability of native gold

Variation in composition of native gold

Surface changes caused by geological processes or comminution

Surface contamination with organic matter

Contamination with oil or grease

Reactions of gold with xanthate

AuAu Au .Xads . . ,- Anodic reaction

Simultaneous anodic and cathodic reactions and chemisorption

Anodic 4X- -~ 4Xad s + 4e- (1)

Collector oxidation and precipitation

Dixanthogen formation 2X- --->X 2 + 2e- (6)

Xanthate adsorption on gold, silver, and gold-silver alloys

Use of other collectors

Chemical Ag + + MTP- ~ AgMPT (8)

Crozier (1991) maintained that many sulphur-containing sulphide-mineral collectors chemisorbed on a

E F F E C T OF PHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF NATIVE GOLD ON F L O T A T I O N

Particle size of native gold

30 A A. "Free milling" ore from Victoria, Australia, with

30 B. Typical siliceous gold ore, the most common

~ 30 C. Kalgoodie type gold ore (2-10% S) with mostly

Particle shape (Corey shape factor)

Composites and liberation

Particle Dimensions of particle Volume of Area of largest Area of Corey

Surface coatings on native gold

EFFECT OF ORE MINERALOGY AND OTHER MATERIALS

Iron sulphide minerals

Base metal sulphide minerals

Slimes, clay minerals, and pyrophyllite

Other non-sulphide gangue minerals

Ferrous wear detritus

Timber and vegetation

C H E M I C A L CONDITIONS AND REAGENTS FOR NATIVE GOLD F L O T A T I O N

In Canada, alkaline circuits are mostly used (MacKay et al., 1978).

Redox potential (Eh)

Other collector types

The future of collector discovery

Depressants for native gold

Activators for native gold

PHYSICAL AND ENGINEERING CONDITIONS OF NATIVE GOLD F L O T A T I O N

Aeration and stirring rate

SELECTED EXAMPLES OF THE FLOTATION OF NATIVE GOLD IN ORES

Crushed lode or open cut

Fine crushed ore

To cya!idation To dredge pond

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