The depletion of high grade and easily extractable gold ores has inspired development of innovative approaches for sustainable beneficiation of complex (refractory) gold ores. A complex gold ore is generally defined as an ore that is difficult to treat by using the conventional metallurgical unit operations. This difficulty is mainly due to their complex mineralogy that is associated with a low degree of liberation. Mineralogical characterisation strongly assists in defining the amenability of the complex ore to conventional treatment processes. This paper reviews the currently available pre- treatment and processing routes in order to determine future research in the treatment and processing of complex gold ores. The overall goal is to inspire knowledge improvement for the development of a commercially effective technique.
Keywords
Complex gold ore, Sustainable beneficiation, processing, conventional treatment