• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.67-73
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• 2018

The objective of this study was to investigate the application of sulfate solvents for the economic and eco-friendly leaching of valuable metals from Au concentrate using an acid bake-water leaching system (AWS). AWS experiments were performed using an electric furnace with various baking temperatures ($100-500^{\circ}C$) and sulfate solvents ($H_2SO_4$, $K_2SO_4$, $(NH_4)_2SO_4$, $MgSO_4$, and $CaSO_4$). The efficiency of the valuable metal leaching increased as the baking temperature was increased to $400^{\circ}C$. Based on the AWS leaching time experiments, the maximum leaching rate occurred with the aqueous $(NH_4)_2SO_4$ solvent. This study demonstrates that aqueous $(NH_4)_2SO_4$ could be used as an effective solvent for valuable metal leaching using an AWS.