Abstract:The effects of type and dosage of additive, roasting temperature and duration on leaching rates of gold, silver and copper were investigated in treating process of silver-bearing refractory gold concentrates. In addition, the thermodynamics of roasting reaction and silver phase were analyzed. The results show that leaching rate of silver is improved from 43.62% without NaOH addition to 75.65% with NaOH dosage of 2% when roasting temperature is 650 ℃ and roasting time is 2 h. The leaching rate of gold and copper is also improved in varying degrees, which is 91.73% and 92.50% respectively. The analysis of thermodynamics of roasting reaction and silver phase shows that adding NaOH can reduce the silicate bound for silver. The industrial practice shows that with addition of NaOH as additive in roasting process of silver bearing refractory gold concentrates can achieve good technical-economic indexes.