Navigator
Gold
Top Exporters
-
Gold Ore
- **China**
- **Australia**
- **Russia**
- **Canada**
- **United States**
- **South Africa**
- **Ghana**
- **Peru**
- **Mexico**
- **Indonesia**
- **Kazakhstan**
- **Uzbekistan**
- **Brazil**
- **Burkina Faso**
- **Papua New Guinea**
- **Tanzania**
- **Sudan**
- **Argentina**
- **Guinea**
- **Turkey**
Known Methods of Extraction
Perfect 👍 — next in **periodic table order** is **Gold (Au, atomic number 79).** Gold is a **transition metal** that occurs in **native form** in veins, alluvial deposits, and as a minor component in sulfide ores. Industrial extraction involves **physical concentration, chemical leaching, and recovery**. Here are the **20 most common methods of extracting Gold**: --- # **20 Most Common Methods of Extracting Gold** ### **A. Extraction from Ores** 1. **Mining of Gold-Bearing Ores (Veins, Placer, Alluvial)** – Primary source of gold. 2. **Crushing and Grinding of Ore** – Prepares material for chemical processing. 3. **Gravity Concentration** – Uses jigs, sluices, shaking tables to concentrate free gold. 4. **Amalgamation with Mercury** – Historically used to recover gold from ore. 5. **Flotation of Sulfide Ores** – Concentrates gold associated with sulfides. 6. **Roasting of Sulfide Concentrates** – Converts sulfides to oxides, releasing gold. --- ### **B. Chemical Leaching** 7. **Cyanidation (Cyanide Leaching)** – Most common industrial method to dissolve gold. 8. **Thiosulfate Leaching** – Alternative to cyanide for environmentally sensitive operations. 9. **Chlorination** – Dissolves gold using chlorine gas or chloride salts. 10. **Bromination** – Dissolves gold using bromine solutions. 11. **Aqua Regia Digestion** – Dissolves gold in a mixture of HCl and HNO₃. 12. **Bioleaching / Microbial Extraction** – Uses microorganisms to oxidize sulfides and liberate gold. --- ### **C. Recovery from Leach Solutions** 13. **Carbon Adsorption (CIP / CIL Process)** – Gold adsorbs onto activated carbon. 14. **Electrowinning** – Gold is plated onto cathodes from solution. 15. **Precipitation with Zinc (Merrill-Crowe Process)** – Zinc displaces gold from cyanide solution. 16. **Precipitation with Sulfides (e.g., Sodium Sulfide)** – Laboratory or specialty recovery. --- ### **D. Refining and Secondary Sources** 17. **Smelting to Produce Doré Bars** – Concentrates gold and silver for further refining. 18. **Cupellation** – Removes lead and base metals from gold alloys. 19. **Recovery from E-Waste and Scrap Jewelry** – Hydrometallurgical or pyrometallurgical extraction. 20. **Recovery from Industrial Slags** – Chemical leaching and precipitation from byproducts of other metal refining. --- ✅ **Summary:** * **Main industrial sources:** Native gold in veins, alluvial deposits, and sulfide ores. * **Primary extraction steps:** Ore concentration → chemical leaching → recovery → refining. * **Metallic gold:** Produced via electrowinning, precipitation, or smelting. * **Byproduct/secondary sources:** E-waste, scrap jewelry, smelting slags. * **Laboratory/experimental:** Aqua regia digestion, thiosulfate leaching, bromination, bioleaching. --- Next in periodic order is \*\*Mercury (Hg, atomic number 80). Do you want me to continue with **20 extraction methods for Mercury**?