Modeling and Box-Behnken design optimization of microwave treatment of sulphidic gold flotation tailing

As raw minerals become scarcer every passing day, the need for the recovery of mine tailings becomes essential. This research highlights the use of microwave energy as a green alternative to otherwise environmentally harmful methods of ore tailing recovery. The obtained results indicate that a 1.4 ppm Au and 3.5 % S sample floated with Aeroflot 208 and Aerophine 3418A increased the concentration of tailings over 18 % S and 4 ppm, Au, for recovery yield, resulting in 84 % and 80 % recovery, respectively. After microwave irradiation, 90 % of sulphur removal was reached under the optimum conditions of 50 minutes of irradiation using 1000 W for 4 g of the sample. Overall with 96. 74 % correlation of the quadratic model using the Box-Behnken design and expressed coefficient R2 regression the model was proven to be suitable for heating and roasting processes of gold-bearing tailings.