US 12,234,530 B2
Process for acidic leaching of precious and chalcophile metals
Elsayed Abdelrady Oraby, Beckenham (AU); and Jacobus Johannes Eksteen, Bull Creek (AU)
Assigned to Mining and Process Solutions Pty Ltd, Melbourne (AU); and Covoro Mining Solutions, LLC, Memphis, TN (US)
Appl. No. 16/651,106
Filed by Mining and Process Solutions Pty Ltd, Caulfield North (AU); and Covoro Mining Solutions, LLC, Memphis, TN (US)
PCT Filed Sep. 27, 2018, PCT No. PCT/AU2018/051060
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Mar. 26, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/060961, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 4, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. 2017903921 (AU), filed on Sep. 27, 2017.
Prior Publication US 2020/0224290 A1, Jul. 16, 2020
Int. Cl. C22B 3/16 (2006.01); C22B 3/24 (2006.01); C22B 3/42 (2006.01); C22B 3/46 (2006.01); C22B 7/00 (2006.01)
CPC C22B 3/1658 (2013.01) [C22B 7/007 (2013.01); C22B 3/24 (2013.01); C22B 3/42 (2013.01); C22B 3/46 (2013.01)] 27 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A process for recovery of one or more elements, selected from precious metals and chalcophile metals as herein defined, from materials containing precious and/or chalcophile metal/s, said process including:
(i) a leaching step comprising contacting the material with an acidic solution having a pH between 0 and 5 and containing a lixiviant comprising an aqueous amino acid-thiourea compound formed from an amino acid (as herein defined) and thiourea (as herein defined), in order to form a leachate containing the precious metal and/or chalcophile metal; and
(ii) a recovery step comprising recovering the precious metal and/or chalcophile metal from the leachate.