When the silver/gold ratio takes values as high as 6-10, the ore will be processed by gravity concentration and flotation in order to get a silver-gold concentrate. There is a potential problem when the silver minerals are partially oxidized during the geological process. If the silver size particles of 3-4 microns, the problem is serious due to the easy oxidation of these particles. The problem can be detected by performing a mineralogical study. Basically, electrum and silver sulphosalts suffer this problem. They form silver sulphates and silver oxides. If part of these oxidized particles is recovered by entrainment, and the concentrate will be reprocessed by cyanidation, the final recovery will be affected.
It must be emphasized that the objective of processing a silver-gold ore is to obtain a concentrate with high silver contents. Normally, gold is not presence in high proportion, but its presence into the concentrate is important because gives an extra value to the concentrate.