The recovery of gold and uranium from gold ore leached residues by HGMS

High Gradient Magnetic Separation (HGMS) tests have been carried out on the leached residue of Witwatersrand (S.A.) gold ore to determine the performance of HGMS in the beneficiation of the gold and uranium content (typically of the order of 1 ppm and 100 ppm respectively) of this residue. A number of important findings have emerged. Five-fold concentration of the gold and uranium has been achieved in the magnetic fraction, constituting 15% by weight of the feed sample. The separator consists of a superconduct ing solenoid (max. field 8 Tesla) which has a 73mm diameter room-temperature bore. The slurry is pumped through a perspex canister placed in the bore and containing the matrix material. Woven wire mesh was found to be the most suitable matrix material for this application and was therefore used throughout.