9. Metallurgy

9.1 General

The very high occurrence of silver in sulfides and sulfosalts means that only 43% of silver production comes from silver and gold ores; the rest of the world's production comes from the processing of copper, lead and zinc ores [2] .

It should also be considered that a large proportion of the silver-bearing minerals are insoluble or only slightly soluble during cyanidation, giving the ore a refractory character. Added to this disadvantage is the precipitation of Ag ₂ S, even in the presence of small amounts of sulfur. Ag ₂ S is insoluble in cyanide medium in the absence of oxidation. Oxidative...