Kinetics of leaching refractory gold ores by ultrasonic-assisted electro-chlorination

The resources of refractory gold ores are abundant, and their effective treatment can bring good economic benefits. This paper investigated the kinetics of leaching gold from refractory gold ores by ultrasonic-assisted electro-chlorination. The effects of ultrasound time ratio, initial hydrochloric acid concentration and leaching temperature on the kinetic parameters were discussed. It is found that the leaching ratio goes up with all the factors increasing. The reaction kinetics is controlled by diffusion. When ultrasound improves the diffusion by reducing the diffusion resistance, the activation energy increases to 37.1 kJ/mol.