A RADIOTRACER STUDY ON THE KINETICS OF GOLD SORPTION BY MINERAL SURFACES

Aqueous solutions with about 10 ppt Au-195 and [HCl] of 10(-2.3) and 10(-1.3) m were exposed to solid minerals for several months. The gold uptake with time was observed by time-stepped sampling and radiochemical Au analysis. Sorbants were polished thick sections of quartz, pyrite, pyrrhotite and elemental gold, as well as crushed grains and sawed mineral cubes of quartz and pyrite (all randomly oriented). The kinetics of gold sorption strongly varied with the surface area of the sorbents, the type of mineral and the pH of the solution. Mineral-specific differences in reaction rates were observed only at experimental pH values around 2.3, where sorption on pyrrhotite and elemental gold was much more rapid than by quartz and pyrite. At pH around 1.3 gold sorption was rapid on all minerals. This finding is thought to reflect the gold speciation, i.e. neutral hydroxo-gold complexes above pH 1.5, for which only chemisorption is possible, versus dominantly AuCl4- below pH 1.5, where unspecific electrostatic interaction enhances reaction rates with all protonated mineral surfaces.