Regeneration of ion-exchange resins used for gold recovery.

P process for regeneration of ion-exchange resins, used for gold recovery and from which gold has been extracted, has been developed. This process involves conversion from the initial thiocyanate form of the resin to the chloride form, followed by conversion to the hydroxide form. With a small- scale column, 75%k of the thiocyanate can be removed in approximately one hour, and there is no decrease in gold capacity after the first regeneration cycle. With a tenfold larger column, 50% of the thiocyanate can be removed in one hour. This amount is adequate for practical reuse of the resin for gold recovery. The operating temperature ranger has been determined to be 45-55C. Changes in flow rate and eluent concentrations show little effect on the rate of thiocyanate elution. Therefore it is feasible to run this process at relatively high flow rates and with eluent concentrations as low as 1M.