The Dissolution of Gold and Silver in Acidic Solutions of Thiourea
원창환C . W . Won, 조통래T . R . Cho
Abstract
The dissolution of gold and silver in acidic solutions of thiourea containing Fe^(++) ions as an oxidant was studied. It was found using a rotating pure metal disk experiment that gold and silver can respectively be dissolved at much greater rate by acidic solutions of thiourea and that by conventional cyanidation techniques. Dissolution rates are dependent both on thiourea and oxidant concentration, and appear to be controlled partially by chemical phenomena and partially by transport of ions (thiourea and oxidant) to the metal surface. A transition from diffusion control to reaction control has been noted at higher agitation levels.