Increasing cyanide concentration increases the competition of cyanide ions

with gold cyanide species for adsorption sites on the carbon and assist with the
displacement of gold cyanide species from the carbon. however, the presence
of free cyanide throughout the desorption process is not a requeriment for
efective elution and several procedures have been developed that use a
cyanide presoak step followed by deionized water elution. Consequently,
elutin systems can be divided into those using cyanide throughout the process
and those using cyanide during a presoak only.
ionic strength has a greater effect on elution rate than cyanide concentration,
as shown in figure 7.16. Gold may be desorbed quite effectively with low ionic
strength solution, for example, deionized water, even in the absence of free
cyanide. The beneficial effects of divalent cations, such as calcium and
magnesium, on gold adsorption onto activated carbon is reversed for elution
process.
Elution processes that have been developed since the original Zadra process
have all used solutions containings 1% to 3% sodium hydroxide, either in a
presoak step or for the main elution step. The hydroxide ions displace gold
cyanide ions on the carbon in a manner similar to free cyanide ions. In addition,
sufficient alkalinity is required to avoid loss of cyanide by hydrolisis, that is , to
typically maintain the ph between 10 to 12 . The control of ph during elution is
most important for process that use zinc precipitation for subsequent gold
recovery, because insoluble zinc hydroxide can be formed.
Organic Solvents
the rate of elution can be significantly increased by the addition of organic
solvents, such as alcohols and glycols, to the aqueous eluant. These increase
the activity of other ionic species in solution, particularly smaller ions such as
cyanide, in preference to larger ones, for example, gold cyanide. This effect
increases the efficiency of displacement of gold cyanide from carbon.
A variety of solvents have been tested and used to enhance elution processes
over a range of temperatures. Alcohols, such as ethanol, methanol, and
isopropanol, at concentration of 15% to 25% in the eluant, can be used to
reduce elutions time by a factor of 3 to 4 ( e.g from 48 to 12 hr for Zadra-type
elution at 90). Unfortunately, these solutions are highly flammable and may
constitute a fire hazard in industrial plants. Glycol, such as ethylene and
propylene glycol, have been used in similar concentrations but with generally
smaller reductionsin elution time - aproximately half the reductions that are
achieved with alcohols. Glycols are less flamable than alcohols and therefore
may be preferred in some case.
The relative effectiveness of various organic solvents decreases in the order.

acetonitrile > methyl ethyl ketone > acetone >>> demethyl formamide >
ethanol
In addition, the use of organic solvents in eluent solutions without cyanide has
been proposed. Solutions containing 1% by weight of sodium hydroxide with
20%( by volume) of a suitable organic solvent, such as isopropyl alcohol,
ethylene glycol, or ethanol, have been demonstrated to achieve efective
elution at 80 C in about 8 hr. The effectiveness of the various solvents
decreases in the following order:
isopropyl alcohol> ethylene glycol> etanol
The use of organic solvents at high temperatures may benefit the removal of
adsorbed organic species (e.g., oils, humic acido, etc) from carbon. This does
not appear to have any significant adverse effect on subsequent electrowining
or zinc precipitation recovery processes.