Lead anode mud pyrometallurgical extraction of gold and silver

The main process of extracting gold and silver by lead anode mud pyrometallurgy includes the following steps:

Reduction melting: Lead anode mud is reduced and melted to obtain precious lead, which contains precious metals such as gold and silver.

Oxidation refining: Precious lead undergoes oxidation refining to remove impurities such as bismuth, antimony, and arsenic, while recovering tellurium-1 from the oxidation slag.

Electrolytic separation and extraction: Precious lead is melted and cast into gold silver alloy plates after oxidation refining, and then subjected to electrolytic separation and extraction of gold and silver. During the electrolysis process, high-purity silver is produced, and the anode mud after electrolytic silver extraction is further used to extract gold through methods such as nitric acid leaching and chlorination.

The detailed steps of the pyrometallurgical process are as follows:

Reduction melting: Lead anode mud is subjected to reduction melting at high temperatures to obtain precious lead rich in precious metals.

Oxidation refining: Precious lead undergoes oxidation refining to remove impurities such as bismuth, antimony, arsenic, etc., while recovering tellurium from the oxidation slag.

Electrolytic separation and extraction: Refined precious lead is melted and cast into gold silver alloy plates, and then subjected to electrolytic separation and extraction of gold and silver. During the electrolysis process, high-purity silver is produced, and the anode mud after electrolytic silver extraction is further used to extract gold through methods such as nitric acid leaching and chlorination.

Advantages and disadvantages of the pyrometallurgical process:

Advantages: The pyrometallurgical process is relatively mature, capable of efficiently recovering precious metals such as gold and silver, and has strong adaptability to raw materials.

Disadvantages: During the pyrometallurgical treatment process, a large amount of exhaust gas and waste residue will be generated, which has a certain impact on the environment and requires strict environmental protection measures。