Effect of Tungsten on Precious Metal Extraction During Processing of Radio-Electronic Scrap

An increase in demand for metal creates a requirement for finding new ways of supply. Toughening of ecological requirements for ore recovery necessitates ways for intensifying treatment processes with the aim of more complete extraction of economic components. In the forefront is secondary metallurgy technology making it possible to extract nonferrous and precious metals from waste. Ecological standards become an important condition for processing radio-electronic engineering scrap. Enrichment product compositions obtained from radio-electronic industry scrap are provided and results are described for melting radio-electronic scrap and dissolution of anodes prepared from this waste. The compositions of concentrates entering processing are provided. These compositions are analyzed in a Lab Center XRF-1800 x-ray fluorescence spectrometer. Anode potential measurements are given. The degree of tungsten oxidation in relation to temperature is analyzed. Kinetics of tungsten oxidation are studied and tungsten apparent oxidation activation energy is determined. It is concluded that tungsten may be a collector for gold. Tungsten oxidation is a required condition for reducing gold loss.