Electrostatic Beneficiation of Gold Ores

Since gold is an important industrial material and thus an important element in the world economy, the development of better technology in the concentration of gold ores is of some economic significance. The authors present very encouraging results obtained in separation of the Doyon gold ores when using the electrostatic inverted roof apparatus which was developed at the Applied Elecrostatics Laboratory of The University of Western Ontario and described in the IEEE-IAS Transactions, Vol. IA-19, No. 3, May/June 1983. The electrification phenomena through combined tribo- and inductive charging was studied at various relative humidities. Contrary to expectations, the experimental work showed that the best separations are achieved at relatively high humidities of ∼ 70% or higher. One of the main cost factors in electrostatic beneficiation of minerals is that of drying the material. The lesser drying required of this gold ore may be of considerable economic importance.