In this paper, gold leaching of a refractory sulfide concentrate by chloride–hypochlorite solution was investigated and effects of stirring speed, temperature and particle size on the leaching rate were reported. Experimental data for leaching rate of gold were analyzed with the shrinking–core model. Results were consistent with chemical reaction control mechanism in the first 1 h of leaching and diffusion control mechanism in the second 1 h. Apparent activation energy also was found to be 22.68 kJ/mol in the first step and 3.93 kJ/mol in the second step of leaching.