Analytica Chimica Acta 367 (1998) 123133

Modelling and optimization of cyanidation process.

A chemometric approach by regression analysis
Zhaoheng Fang1, Milan Meloun2, Mamoun Muhammed*
Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Royal Institute of Technology, S-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden

Received 15 January 1997; received in revised form 21 November 1997; accepted 16 December 1997

Abstract

A process of direct leaching of gold and silver from a sulde concentrate by cyanidation at ambient temperature was analyzed
by simulation and optimization, using a chemometrical approach based on non-linear regression. A set of models, describing
the inuence of the various relevant parameters on the dissolution process, including the initial concentration of sodium
cyanide, the oxygen partial pressure and the leaching time as the controllable variables in the process, were obtained based on
the kinetic study and mathematical proof of the statistical procedure. The parameters in the set of models were estimated from
the experimental data. Finally, the model was used to determine the optimum conditions for the leaching of gold and silver by
direct cyanidation. # 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Cyanidation process; Chemometric approach; Regression analysis

1. Introduction
Hydrometallurgical processes consist of several
unit operations of which leaching is, in general, of
decisive importance for the economy of the integrated
process. This is especially true for the recovery of
precious metals by cyanide leaching. The dissolution
of metals is brought about by contacting the ore
minerals with solutions with a given composition
under suitable conditions and sufcient period of time.
Therefore, there are several physical and chemical
*Corresponding author. Fax: 0046 8 7909072.
1 ion. In this paper, we present a mathematical model
On leave from Institute of Chemical Metallurgy, Beijing, PR
China.
2
On leave from College of Chemical Technology, Purdubice,
Czechoslovakia.
parameters that affect the rate (kinetics) and the extent
(yield) of the leaching. Laborious studies are then
undertaken in order to estimate the `optimal' leaching
conditions.
We have previously undertaken a detailed study for
the leaching of gold and silver by cyanidation of a
copper concentrate [1]. The experimental data were
treated in order to determine the dependence of the
leaching process on the operating conditions studied
and thus to establish optimum operating conditions.
In searching for the optimal conditions in a leaching
step of a hydrometallurgical process, the economic
protability should be considered as the main criter-
and a statistical analysis of the experimental data by
studying the system (surface) response to different
variables (operating parameters). Several models were

0003-2670/98/$19.00 # 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

PII S0003-2670(98)00020-8
124 Z. Fang et al. / Analytica Chimica Acta 367 (1998) 123133
proposed for different operating conditions of the
cyanidation process and were analyzed assuming that
the best model represents an optimum for the process
operation.
For the optimization of the economic protability,
knowledge of a simple economic quantity, namely the
difference between the two major contributions: the
value of the produced metals and the costs for leaching
process is required. The comparison between process
alternatives is based on the optimum prot in each
case. The income depends mainly on the recovery of
valuable metals, i.e. the yield of gold and silver in the
cyanidation of the AuCu sulphide concentrate. In
general, the consumption of the reacting reagents,
impure components in pregnant liquors and the oper-
ating cost per unit time are the most important and
determining parts of the process cost.
The goal of process modelling by a data simulation
is to nd a set of regression models that describe the
whole process and to estimate the unknown para-
meters of these models. Recently, our attention has
been focused on the regression modelling because the
computer data simulation is a widely used tool in
regression analysis. The mathematical model pro-
posed describes the process and expresses the quanti-
tative relation between variables. Therefore, our
modelling, by data simulation, will also contain an
examination of correlation between the dependent
variables representing the process (such as the yield
of the valuable metals, the content of foreign compo-
nents (impurity), leaching time, and the reagent con-
sumption) with individual controllable independent
variables of the process conditions.
2. Experimental
The laboratory leaching was carried out in a glass
vessel of 500 cm3, the particle size of the concentrate
was 120 mesh, and the stirring rate was kept at
700 rpm. The reaction vessel was kept at 258C and
the leaching time was varied. The detailed experi-
mental conditions are given elsewhere [1].
3. Results
The leaching was carried out either at a xed partial
pressure of oxygen or at a xed initial concentration of
sodium cyanide. The experimental data expressing
selected conditions of the process are presented in
Table 1.
3.1. Regression data treatment
At the stage of process development, the regression
analysis of date {y, x} using kinetic equations yf(x, b)
to estimate parameters b is carried out according to the
following steps:
1st step: Derivation of the initial hypothesis of
mathematical model to be proposed.
2nd step: Regression model building and testing by
the model fitting through the given data.
3rd step: A search for a reliable computational
strategy by the use of simulation data.
4th step: Proposed models of leaching process and
an evaluation of experimental data.
3.1.1. Initial hypothesis of model proposed
For the cyanidation process of the AuCu concen-
trate, the variables describing the process are the
extracted fraction of gold and silver, the content of
copper and iron dissolved in pregnant liquors, and the
consumption of cyanide. The results of the experi-
mental kinetic study were used for deriving the initial
hypothesis of proposed models concerning the leach-
ing process with the following features and relations
[1]:
(a) The initial rate of gold dissolution is propor-
tional to the initial concentration of cyanide and
the partial pressure of oxygen for low values, but
turns out to be independent at higher values.
(b) Dissolution of silver consists of two reaction.
The rate of first one is rather sensitive to the partial
pressure of oxygen, and little linked to the
concentration of cyanide while the rate of the
second reaction is very slow and almost indepen-
dent of the leaching time.
(c) The kinetics of dissolution of copper is similar
to that of gold. The rate is a linear function of the
initial concentration of cyanide on the leaching
time.
(d) For the dissolution of iron, strong aeration
accelerates the precipitation reaction of the hydro-
xide and causes the decrease of the concentration
of ferrous ions. The reaction rate is proportional to
 Z. Fang et al. / Analytica Chimica Acta 367 (1998) 123133 125

Table 1
Matrix of experimental data for leaching process containing the controlled independent variables x1i, x2i, x3i, i1,2. . .46, and measured
dependent variables yji, i1,2. . .46 for five proposed models, j1. . .5

Independent variables Dependent variables of proposed model

i x1i a x2i b x3i c y1i d y2i e y3i f y4i g y5i h

PO2 (NaCN)l t NaCN (Cu) (Fe) XAu XAg
consumed (g/l) (g/l) leached leached
1 0.01 4.0 2.0 1.92 0.312 0.113 0.33 0.013
2 0.01 4.0 3.0 2.66 0.323 0.122 0.36 0.005
3 0.01 4.0 4.0 2.96 0.336 0.137 0.41 0.000
4 0.01 4.0 6.0 3.24 0.357 0.146 0.45 0.008
5 0.01 4.0 10.0 3.52 0.385 0.158 0.50 0.044
6 0.2 1.0 2.0 i 0.224 0.020 0.56 0.088
7 0.2 1.0 3.0 i 0.236 0.024 0.63 0.134
8 0.2 1.0 4.0 i 0.244 0.027 0.64 0.156
9 0.2 1.0 6.0 0.90 0.250 0.030 0.64 0.194
10 0.2 1.0 10.0 i 0.258 0.033 0.64 0.218
11 0.2 2.0 2.0 i 0.322 0.055 0.68 0.190
12 0.2 0.2 3.0 i 0.351 0.063 0.73 0.197
13 0.2 2.0 4.0 i 0.373 0.069 0.78 0.202
14 0.2 2.0 6.0 1.79 0.381 0.076 0.81 0.217
15 0.2 2.0 10.0 i 0.413 0.078 0.84 0.245
16 0.2 3.0 2.0 i 0.386 0.090 0.70 0.212
17 0.2 3.0 3.0 i 0.416 0.098 0.75 0.219
18 0.2 3.0 4.0 i 0.455 0.105 0.80 0.215
19 0.2 3.0 6.0 2.66 0.486 0.111 0.88 0.224
20 0.2 3.0 8.0 i 0.504 i i i
21 0.2 3.0 10.0 i 0.510 0.113 0.91 0.269
22 0.2 4.0 2.0 2.23 0.346 0.115 0.74 0.239
23 0.2 4.0 3.0 2.96 0.400 0.127 0.79 0.232
24 0.2 4.0 4.0 3.15 0.432 0.138 0.83 0.229
25 0.2 4.0 6.0 3.55 0.517 0.147 0.90 0.237
26 0.2 4.0 10.0 3.79 0.582 0.150 0.94 0.266
27 0.2 5.0 2.0 i i i 0.76 0.252
28 0.2 5.0 3.0 i i i 0.80 0.245
29 0.2 5.0 4.0 i i i 0.87 0.235
30 0.2 5.0 6.0 4.52 0.625 0.162 0.90 0.238
31 0.2 5.0 10.0 i i i 0.92 0.285
32 0.2 6.0 2.0 i i i 0.81 0.255
33 0.2 6.0 3.0 i i i 0.84 0.248
34 0.2 6.0 4.0 i i i 0.89 0.242
35 0.2 6.0 6.0 5.40 0.674 0.194 0.92 0.245
36 0.2 6.0 10.0 i i i 0.94 0.227
37 0.5 4.0 2.0 2.84 0.553 0.123 0.88 0.304
38 0.5 4.0 3.0 3.22 0.599 0.131 0.91 0.287
39 0.5 4.0 4.0 3.33 0.636 0.139 0.92 0.289
40 0.5 4.0 6.0 3.60 0.700 0.132 0.94 0.328
41 0.5 4.0 10.0 3.71 0.732 0.122 0.91 0.374
42 1.0 4.0 2.0 3.10 0.548 0.139 0.91 0.322
43 1.0 4.0 3.0 3.43 0.603 0.145 0.92 0.308
44 1.0 4.0 4.0 3.64 0.668 0.152 0.94 0.306
126 Z. Fang et al. / Analytica Chimica Acta 367 (1998) 123133

Table 1
(continued)

Independent variables Dependent variables of proposed model

a b c
i x1i x2i x3i y1i d y2i e y3i f y4i g y5i h
PO2 (NaCN)l t NaCN (Cu) (Fe) XAu XAg
consumed (g/l) (g/l) leached leached
45 1.0 4.0 6.0 3.79 0.714 0.145 0.95 0.351
46 1.0 4.0 10.0 3.97 0.783 0.140 0.95 0.403
a
The partial pressure of oxygen (atm).
b
The initial concentration of NaCN (g l1).
c
The leaching time (h).
d
The consumption of NaCN (g l1).
e
The copper concentration (g l1) in leaching solutions.
f
The iron concentration (g l1) in leaching solutions.
g
The extracted fraction of gold.
h
The extracted fraction of silver.
i
Missing quantities.

the initial concentration of cyanide and seems to be
independent on the partial pressure of oxygen after
leaching for 2 h.
(e) The consumption of cyanide is correlated with
the partial pressure of oxygen and also with the
concentration of cyanide.
(f) The leaching is done under conditions where no
influence of stirring speed, particle size of the
concentrate on the yield is observed and therefore
their influence was omitted here.
Therefore, the partial pressure of oxygen, the initial
concentration of sodium cyanide and the leaching time
are considered to be the main controllable factors of
process kinetics and may be taken as the independent
variables, x1, x2 and x3. The dependent variables,
desired to specify the process itself, distinguishes five
various models: y1 is the consumption of sodium
cyanide, y2 the copper concentration in leaching solu-
tions, y3 the iron concentration in leaching solutions,
y4 the extracted fraction of gold, and y5 the extracted
fraction of silver.
To describe a leaching process, the most important
model equations are those which describe a develop-
ing period of the process at the beginning. The initial
hypothesis of the proposed models for the leaching
study and empirical model is
y a f x1 ; x2 expbx3 (1)
where y stands for a dependent process variable, x1, x2,
x3 are three independent process variables described
above, b the unknown parameters to be estimated, a
the constant and f(x1, x2) the function of two process
variables usually expressed as a product of polynomial
of variables. According to the experimental strategy,
ve various models may be proposed differing in
dependent variable, yj, j1. . .5, and in formulation
of the model proposed.
3.1.2. Model building and testing
The data matrix {X, y} containing {xji, j1. . .3,
i1. . .n; yji, j1. . .5, i1. . .n} is tted by the
initial hypothesis of model containing a vector of
unknown parameters b{b1. . .bm}. To nd the
`best' model from several possible or proposed
ones, the residual-square sum function U is to be
minimized,
X
n
U yji f x1i ; x2i ; x3i ; b2
i1
X
n

process is derived on the base of process kinetics and a e2i  minimum (2)
i1
resulting model is then modied according to the
procedure of regression model building. A general for each of ve model hypotheses, j1. . .5. When the
phenomenological expression on the basis of a kinetic U function reaches a minimum and the unknown
 Z. Fang et al. / Analytica Chimica Acta 367 (1998) 123133
parameters b{b1. . .bm} are found, two tests are
carried out:
(i) The first test makes a statistical analysis of
residuals (e) to examine the quality of achieved
fitness of the regression curve through data points.
The calculated regression diagnostics usually
contain the following statistical characteristics
of the
P residual set: the residual meanPE^e
1=n ni1 ^ei ; the mean residual jej 1=n ni1 j^ej;
the residual standard deviation
!1=2
X n
ei e2
s^e (3)
n1
i1
and two parameters describing the shape of the
residual distribution, i.e. the skewness g1(e) and
the curtosis g2(e). The goodness-of-fit may be
considered not only according to the measures
127
the ill-conditional parameters cause a rather at shape
of the hyperparaboloid U in (m1)-dimensional space
and therefore their estimation is uncertain. The ill-
conditional parameters usually exhibit quite large
standard deviation s(bi) and are seldom a matter
of estimation. It is recommended to keep these
parameters constant on the xed value of initial
guess.
Either tests or an examination of conditioning
parameters in the model enable a modication of
the initial hypothesis of the proposed model. After
testing all parameter estimates and leaving out insig-
nicant parameters (as they are equal to zero), the
proposed model of a leaching process for a given data
set can be simplied. For example, the initial hypoth-
esis of the model proposed for gold yield (Model (4))
contains nine parameters but four of them may be left
out from estimation
of location and dispersion but also according to 5 x1i
some measures of distribution shape. The best fit Model 4 : y4 1
1 2 x1i
is achieved when the residual distribution is of
Gaussian normal nature. Examination of an 1 6 x2i 1 7 x3i
 (4)
actual residual distribution is carried out by the 1 8 1 3 x2i 1 4 x3i 9 x23i
skewness g1(e), the curtosis g2(e) and Pearson
c2-test. For normal distribution it should be valid with the initial guess of parameters for the rst
that g1(e)0 and g2(e)3 while c2exp c21a m, hypothesis of model proposed
where c2exp is the test criterion of Pearson c2-test b1 0:26  0:06;
and c21a m is the quantile of c2-distribution;
(for details cf. Ref. [3]). Regression diagnostics b2 27:2  7:1;
are the only criteria according to which a
b3 1:6  0:3;
selection among several proposed models may
be performed because the `best' model always b4 2:2  0:4;
reaches the best curve fitting through a given b5 1:2  0:5;
data set.
(ii) The second test concerns the statistical b6 0:15  0:06;
significance of the parameter estimates b j , b7 102  87;
j1. . .m. The parameter  j is significant in b8 0:20  0:8;
the model if its estimate bj is greater than three
times its standard deviation, bj>3 sj, i.e. `3 sigma' b9 0:0025  0:0015
rule. Parameter estimates bj, not fulfilling this rule, and rened values of parameters for the simplied
are then taken as being equal to zero and the nal hypothesis of model proposed
parameter j is considered to be insignificant in the
model. b1 0:28  0:01;
Parameters in a model may be distinguished as b2 24:2  2:2;
well-conditioned parameters and ill-conditioned ones.
While the well-conditioned parameters can be pre- b3 1:5  0:2;
cisely estimated by most of the regression programs, b4 2:2  0:4;
128 Z. Fang et al. / Analytica Chimica Acta 367 (1998) 123133

Table 2
The accuracy expressed by the relative derivation
rel,i and the precision s(bi) of parameter estimates for simplified Model (4) and simulated
data in dependence on the instrumental error, Sinst(y): b10.28, b224.2, b31.5, b42.2, b51.0, b60.15, b7100, b80.2 and b90.0025

Set sinst(y) b1 b2 b3 b4

rel,1 s(b1)
rel,2 s(b2)
rel,3 s(b3)
rel,4 s(b4)

5 8 5 6 5 7 5
1 0.000 1.010 2.010 1.610 4.010 2.710 4.010 2.310 5.0107
2 0.005 0.145 0.0022 1.26 0.33 0.56 0.031 0.52 0.048
3 0.025 0.651 0.0121 6.93 1.75 4.08 0.163 13.10 0.306
4 0.050 7.67 0.0211 7.13 2.88 9.99 0.320 7.3 0.402
5 0.100 8.79 0.0396 8.34 6.90 37.87 0.849 28.16 0.611

while other ve parameters are kept at constant values parameter estimation was examined in dependence
of initial guess; on the instrumental error sinst(y). For increasing
value of sinst(y) starting from 0, and 0.005 through
5 1:000;
0.100, the relative deviation of individual parameter
6 0:150; estimates, Drel,i, (accuracy) and the parametric stan-
7 100:0; dard deviations, s(bi), (precision) are presented in
Table 2.
8 0:200;
For known value of an instrumental error sinst(y)
and achieved by the law of errors propagation, the preci-
sion and accuracy of parameter estimates may be
9 0:00250:
3.1.3. A search of computational strategy
Examining reliability, i.e. accuracy and precision of
parameter estimates bi, at rst, a search for optional
computational strategy with the use of simulated data
is carried out. For a given set of parameters bj,
j1. . .m, the `theoretical points' are calculated using
the model proposed. Each theoretical point is then
transformed into the simulated one by the addition of a
guessed on the base of results from Table 2.
3.1.4. Proposed models of leaching process
Regression analysis of simulated data and the pro-
cedure of a model building and testing lead to the nal
forms of some models proposed for the process of
cyanidation of AuCu concentrate,
Model (1):
1 10x1i
y1 1 x2i exp3 x3i 0:7 (6)
random error ei, yiyth,iei. The set of random errors e 1 b2 x1i
exhibits Gaussian normal distribution and has been
calculated with the use of a random number generator Model (2):
and a known value of the instrumental error sinst(y). 1 b2 x1i
The resulting set of simulated data is quite close to the y 2 1 1 3 x2i 1 4 exp0:25x3i
1 b5 x1i
set of real experimental data. (7)
The accuracy may be classied by the relative
deviation of the parameter estimate from the true Model (3):
value of parameter question,
y3 1 1 20x2i 1 2 x3i (8)
 i bi

rel;i  100% (5) Model (4):
i
while the precision of each parameter estimate is x1i
y 4 1
considered according to the parametric standard 1 2 x1i
deviation s(bi). For gold yield described by the sim- 1 0:15x2i 1 100x3i
 (9)
plied Model (4), for example, the reliability of 1 0:21 3 x2i 1 4 x3i 0:0025x23i
 Z. Fang et al. / Analytica Chimica Acta 367 (1998) 123133 129

Table 3
Parameter estimates and goodness-of-fit test by regression analysis of experimental data from Table 1 carried out with the STATGRAPHICS
program [4]

Parameter estimates

Model(1) Model(2) Model(3) Model(4) Model(5)

b1s(b1) 2.1660.076 0.14820.0149 0.0015180.000062 0.27630.147 7.6770.799
b2s(b2) 8.2520.288 7.3321.587 0.018940.00583 24.172.23 2.0450.176
b3s(b3) 0.0088640.00144 0.40890.0508 1.5060.206 0.047890.00659
b4s(b4) 0.50720.0719 2.5060.318
b5s(b5) 2.9530.634

Goodness-of-fit test
Data size n 25 37 37 45 45
Residual mean E(e) 0.139 0.0067 1.29E-3 0.00051 0.00049
Mean residual oeo 0.058 0.0049 0.0014 0.0048 0.0028
Standard deviation s(e) 0.288 0.030 0.0084 0.032 0.019
Skewness g1(e) 2.16 0.812 0.326 0.065 1.41
Curtosis g2(e)-3 5.49 0.167 0.019 0.127 4.42
2exp 16.0 7.76 4.76 3.18 14.8
21a (d.f.) 16.7 9.21 9.21 6.25 14.9

Model (5): 3.2. Optimization of the leaching

process
0:8x1i 7x2i 1
y5 1 3 x3i expx3i
1 1 x1i 1 2 x2i
(10)
where bi are unknown parameters to be estimated by
regression analysis of experimental data from Table 1.
Found parameter estimates and a proof of their relia-
bility by statistics of a goodness-of-fit test are given in
Table 3.
The 2 statistic used in this case in dened by
[2]
X
k
Oi Ei 2
2exp (11)
i1
Ei
where Oi is the observed residual frequency, Ei the
expected residual frequency, k the number of classes,
and k1 the freedom degrees. The computed 2 value
is 3.18. Using the Pearson's 2 test to examine that
the residual set comes from a normal distribution,
the degrees of freedom is decreased by c, where c is
the number of parameters estimated from the data.
In this case, the total 2 has (81)43 degrees of
freedom. Thus for Model (4) the value 23;0:90 6:25
is obtained, and we do not reject the model expression
for gold yield. For all ve models, the 2 test proved a
Gaussian normal distribution of residuals.
The principle for the optimization of a process is the
maximum of its economic protability. For the pro-
cess under study, the signicant factor is the difference
between the income and cost of process operation. In
cyanidation of the AuCu concentrate, the income
only includes the value of gold and silver recovery.
The cost could include many terms. Among
them, the most important part for the evaluation of
a process is the cost of direct operation of the
process, i.e. the reagent consumption for the leaching
process and further renement owing to removal of the
impurities entered in the process. Therefore, it is
reasonable to suppose that the cost for the removal
of copper and iron from the pregnant liquors depends
on their content in the liquors, whereas operating
cost depends mainly on the operating time of the
process. The other costs may be considered as a
constant.
In estimating the economic protability, the follow-
ing basic value are considered:
Gold 100 SEK/g
Silver 5 SEK/g
NaCN 1213 SEK/kg
where SEK is the Swedish currency,
130 Z. Fang et al. / Analytica Chimica Acta 367 (1998) 123133
Fig. 1. Contours of the process optimization model (from Eq. (13), i0.25).
and suppose:
1. The cost for removal of 1 kg copper or iron from
1 m3 pregnant liquor is j% of the total value of
gold.
2. The operating costs in 1 h equals to i% of total
value of the gold.
To keep it simple, the case in which the costs for the
removal of copper and iron are omitted is discussed
first. The economic profitability for the treatment of
one ton of the AuCu concentrate can be estimated by
the equation:
B 1000 500 y4 i%0 x3 50 150y5 120 10y1
A SEK 50000 y4 0:15y5 0:024y1
i%x3 A 5000I1 A (12)
where
I1 y4 0:15y5 0:024y1 i%x3 (13)
where x3 is the leach time, h; and A the constant,
representing all other costs.
The basic operation conditions included in the
derivation of the equation are: the ratio of solid and
liquor is 1 : 10, the grade of gold and silver in the
concentrate are 50 and 150 mg l1, respectively.
Since Eqs. (12) and (13) are mathematically
equivalent in maximization, the Eq. (13) is considered
as the basic function for process optimization, and I1 is
called the simplied benet. In the case of cyanidation
under air bubbling (oxygen partial pressure0.2 atm),
the contours of simplied protability I1 calculated
from Eq. (12) are shown in Figs. 13, respectively for
i0.5, 1.0 and 2.0. The area of the highest value
indicates the optimum operation conditions. It can
be seen that the optimum initial concentration of
NaCN depends on the consumption of cyanide. In
the case of our experimental conditions, the optimum
initial concentration is 4.55 g/l of NaCN. The opti-
mum operating time is sensitive to the operation cost
in unit time. With an increase of the operating costs
from 0.5 to 2% the optimum leaching time decreases
from 8 to 4 h.
So far the costs for the removal of copper and
iron from leached liquors is concerned, the prot-
ability can be estimated with the following equa-
tion:
B 1000 50y4 i%x3 j%y2 y3 50 150y5
120 10y1 A 5000y4 0:15y5 0:024y1
i%x3 j%y2 y3 A 5000I2 A (14)
where I2y40.15y50.024y1i%x3j%(y2y3).
Similarly, Eq. (14) is the base of the process
optimization. The calculated results are given with
the contours at several groups of i and j (Figs. 46).
The optimum initial concentration of NaCN depends
mainly on the consumption of cyanide, and alters
 Z. Fang et al. / Analytica Chimica Acta 367 (1998) 123133 131

Fig. 2. Contours of the process optimization model (from Eq. (13), i1).

Fig. 3. Contours of the process optimization model (from Eq. (13), i2).

little due to the change of the cost of copper and 4. Conclusions

iron removal (e.g. j2 to 6), and the best value is
ca. 3.5 g/l. The optimum leaching time is also
sensitive to the operating cost in unit operating
time.
Eq. (13) or Eq. (14) can be used to predict the
optimum area of process operation under pure oxygen
bubbling. The optimum area is little different to that
obtained under air bubbling.
The following conclusions can be drawn:
1. The cyanidation process of the AuCu sulphide
concentrate can be described by a set of simula-
tion models for the yield of gold and silver, the
concentration of copper and iron in liquors as well
as the consumption of cyanide with the initial
132 Z. Fang et al. / Analytica Chimica Acta 367 (1998) 123133

Fig. 4. Contours of the process optimization model (from Eq. (14), i0.25, j2).

Fig. 5. Contours of the process optimization model (from Eq. (14), i0.5, j1).

concentration of sodium cyanide, the oxygen
partial pressure and operating time as the
controlled variables of the process. Reliability of
the models proposed are proven mathematically
by a statistical procedure, and parameters are
estimated by regression analysis and examined by
a goodness-of-t test.
2. The process optimization has been performed on
the basis of an estimation of the process economic
profitability, and the optimization model for the
process is worked out. Operating conditions have
been estimated from the model. The concentration
of sodium cyanide is the main factor affecting the
process optimization, and its optimized initial con-
centration ranges from 3.5 to 4 g/l under aeration
with compressed air. The content of iron and
copper in pregnant liquors, considered as impuri-
ties and removed in later refining steps, has less
effect on the optimization of the process profit-
ability under our fundamental assumptions. The
 Z. Fang et al. / Analytica Chimica Acta 367 (1998) 123133 133

Fig. 6. Contours of the process optimization model (from Eq. (14), i2.5, j2).

optimum leaching time is sensitive to the operating
costs in unit time.
3. The proposed optimization function can be used to
predict the optimum operation conditions that have
not been investigated in detail.
[2] R.M. Bethen, Statistical methods for engineers and scientists,
John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1985, p. 75.
[3] M.A. Sharaf, D.L. Illman, B.R. Kowalski, Chemometrics.,
John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1986, pp. 179296, Chap. 6.
[4] Statgraphics, A statistical graphics system, Ver 3.0. Statistical
Graphics Corporation, STSC. Incorp. USA.

References

[1] Z. Fang, M. Muhammed, Leaching of precious metals from

complex sulphide ores. A kinetic study on cyanide leaching of
gold and silver, to be published.