Copper leaching from electronic waste for the improvement of gold recycling

• Robinson Torres ^[1] ; Gretchen T. Lapidus ^[1]
  1. [1] Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana

     Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana

     México

     
• Localización: Waste management, ISSN-e 0956-053X, Vol. 57, 2016 (Ejemplar dedicado a: WEEE: Booming for Sustainable Recycling), págs. 131-139
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Gold recovery from electronic waste material with high copper content was investigated at ambient conditions. A chemical preliminary treatment was found necessary to remove the large quantities of copper before the precious metal can be extracted. For this purpose inorganic acids (HCl, HNO3 and H2SO4) and two organic substances EDTA and citrate, were tested. The effect of auxiliary oxidants such as air, ozone and peroxide hydroxide was studied. In pretreatments with peroxide and HCl or citrate, copper extractions greater than 90% were achieved. In the second leaching stage for gold recovery, the solid residue of the copper extraction was contacted with thiourea solutions, resulting in greater than 90% gold removal after only one hour of reaction.