Separation and recovery of gold(III) from base metal ions using melamine-formaldehyde-thiourea chelating resin

Melamine-formaldehyde-thiourea (MFT) chelating resin has been prepared. An 31 ions uptake behavior and selectivity of the chelating resin were investigated by both batch and column methods. MFT resin showed higher affinity toward Au3+ compared with base metal ions, CU2+ and Zn2+. The highest Au3+ uptake values were obtained at pH 2 and Au3+ adsorption capacity of the resin was calculated as 48 mg Au3+/g resin (0.246 mmol Au3+/g resin) by batch method. it was concluded that Au3+ ions could be selectively concentrated from the solution including Cu2+ and Zn2+ base metal ions by column method. (C) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.