A lixiviant is a
chemical
A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., w ...
used in
hydrometallurgy
Hydrometallurgy is a technique within the field of extractive metallurgy, the obtaining of metals from their ores. Hydrometallurgy involve the use of aqueous solutions for the recovery of metals from ores, concentrates, and recycled or residual m ...
to extract particular elements from its
ore
Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Apr ...
.
One of the most famous lixiviants is
cyanide, which is used in
extracting 90% of mined gold. The combination of cyanide and air converts gold particles into a soluble salt. Once separated from the bulk gangue, the solution is processed in a series of steps to give the metal.
Etymology
The origin is the word 'lixiviate', meaning to leach or to dissolve out, deriving from the Latin ''lixivium''.
[The New English Dictionary] A lixiviant assists in rapid and complete
leaching, for example during
in situ leach
In-situ leaching (ISL), also called in-situ recovery (ISR) or solution mining, is a mining process used to recover minerals such as copper and uranium through boreholes drilled into a deposit, ''in situ''. In situ leach works by artificially disso ...
ing. The metal can be recovered from it in a concentrated form after leaching.
Further reading
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References
Metallurgical processes
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