A New Method for Recovering Fine Gold from Sands
Wael Zaghloul ElSayad
Assistant Prof. Wael Zaghloul ElSayad, Construction Engineering Dep., Umm Al-Qura University/ College of Engineering at Al-Qunfudha/ Al-Qunfudha, Saudi Arabia, on Sabbatical Leave from Engineering Physics and Mathematics Dep., Faculty of Engineering at Mattaria, Helwan University, Egypt
Manuscript received on August 01, 2016. | Revised Version Manuscript Received on August 14, 2016. | Manuscript published on December 20, 2016. | PP: 10-13 | Volume-2 Issue-2, December 2016.
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© The Authors. Published by Lattice Science Publication (LSP). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: The scarcity of gold in large quantities has led mining entities to turn to the exploitation of gold dust contained in refractory ores. However, the inadequacy of the various methods employed in the extraction of the gold dust often leads to unnecessary loss of the finest gold particles that are washed away by water or any other solution used in the process. The insatiable market demand for gold coupled with its scarcity, therefore, calls for improved methods to elevate the efficiency of extracting the gold dust. The froth flotation technique has, however, shown remarkable efficiency in the extraction of the fine gold particles contained in gold ores. The method uses a mixture of water and coil-oil that has naturally occurring ferrous sulfide which essentially acts as the surfactant. The improvement of the surface tension of water, the frothing produced by the coal-oil and the hydrophobicity nature of gold play an essential role in elevating the efficiency of the method in the extraction of gold dust.
Keywords: The extraction of gold dust, the hydrophobicity, the ferrous sulfide, surface tension, light weights, non-toxic.