Gold recovery

Abstract

The cost of precious metals, such as gold, makes recovery or recycling of these materials economically viable and desirable. Disclosed herein is a method of recovering gold from waste sources thereof, in particular waste electrical goods. Also disclosed herein is an apparatus for recovering gold from said waste sources. In particular, disclosed herein is a method and apparatus in which gold leaching chlorine gas is generated externally to a reactor vessel and subsequently pumped into the reactor vessel comprising the waste gold materials.

1 . An apparatus for extracting gold from a substrate comprising gold, the apparatus comprising:
 a reaction vessel configured to receive the substrate comprising gold, the reaction vessel comprising a vessel inlet through which chlorine gas is deliverable into the reaction vessel, the reaction vessel further comprising a vessel outlet;   a water inlet adapted to deliver water spray, steam, vapor, and/or mist into the vessel; and   a source of chlorine gas in fluid communication with the reaction vessel, wherein the substrate comprising gold, the chlorine gas and moisture present in the reaction vessel interact to provide a gold solution which is recovered from the reaction vessel via the vessel outlet.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein a conduit extends from the verse inlet to the source of chlorine gas to establish fluid communication therebetween. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the apparatus further comprises an urging means for urging chlorine gas from the source of chlorine gas along the conduit and into the reaction vessel. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the source of chlorine gas is an electrolytic cell. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a collector for gold solution.