Silver

Silver Recovery

In the past, crude silver concentrate was produced and sold to smelters. However, mine operators are now taking advantage of additional profits that can be gained by on-site cyanide leaching using the InLine Leach Reactor (ILR).

Perfecting cyanide leaching chemistry is easy with the ILR. The ILR’s adjustable intensive conditions, such as higher cyanide concentrations and longer leaching times are fine-tuned to maximise silver recovery. The ILR is scalable to high tonnage operations.

Because Gekko’s ILR's provide a well-mixed system, superior dissolution of silver from surfaces occurs. The innovative design uses less solution volume, meaning less cyanide to detoxify, which is better for the environment. Also less energy is required for the ILR’s rolling agitation mechanism, compared to other systems.

To process high-grade silver-bearing pregnant solutions to pure silver concentrates, electrowinning is best performed using Gekko’s innovative electrowinning cell. This cell is specifically engineered to handle large volumes of high-value solutions typically generated by silver recovery operations. The cell’s high current density and unique ‘drop site’ design, for collecting silver solids, ensures that electrowinning is efficient and continues uninterrupted.

Pregnant solution recovery of lower grade silver solutions is achieved by resin-based, carbon-in-solution or zinc precipitation (Merril Crowe) processes.