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The Enhancement of Oxidization/Cyanidation Leaching and Dissolution of Copper and Lead from the Precipitate for the Recovery of Silver/ Gold by Electrocoagulation Process

Research Article

Article Title: The Enhancement of Oxidization/Cyanidation Leaching and Dissolution of Copper and Lead from the Precipitate for the Recovery of Silver/ Gold by Electrocoagulation Process

Author: José Refugio Parga Torres*, Esteban Sánchez Valdés, Francisco Cepeda Rodríguez, Jesús Ventura Valdés Flores, Gregorio González Zamarripa and Nelson Oshogwue Etafo

Published Date: December 09, 2025

DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2025.64.010001

Abstract:

Mexico is currently the world’s leading silver producer. The preferred method for silver and gold recovery has long been the zinc cementation Merrill-Crowe process. However, after the precious metals are precipitated with zinc dust in the filter press, the resulting cake often requires dry oxidation and acid or basic leaching dissolution to control the accumulation of zinc, copper, lead, cadmium and iron impurities in the final precipitate product, that resulting in lower quality. Due to this issue, along with the lengthy six-day operation time and high reagent costs, Electrocoagulation (EC) is a promising alternative. EC requires no chemical additions for precious metal recovery. Furthermore, a separate steel reactor tank can be used to regenerate NaCN by bubbling HCN gas into liquid sodium hydroxide, achieving 90% efficiency. This total process yields a 99% Dore product quality within one day. This innovative research work used Atomic Absorption to characterize the solid products formed at iron electrodes during the Hermetic EC Process, Powder X-ray Diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscopy. The results indicate that magnetite particles and amorphous iron oxyhydroxides present in the EC products remove gold and silver and simultaneously in the chemical reactor the complex metallic ions cyanide in the pregnant rich solution was efficiently recovery and NaCN regenerate.

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