Effect of acid leaching pre-treatment on gold extraction from printed circuit boards of spent mobile phones
The effect of a preliminary acid leaching for the recovery of gold by thiourea from printed circuit boards (PCBs) of spent mobile phones, was investigated. Preliminary leaching is aimed to recover copper in the leachate that would compete with gold in the successive leaching of the residue with thiourea, thus preventing the formation of the gold-thiourea complex. Two hydrometallurgical routes were tested for the recovery of copper first, and gold after.