Abstract: With the continuous exploitation of gold resources, the composition of ores has become increasingly complex, and the gold grade has gradually decreased, leading to an increase in the number of refractory gold ores. In such ores, gold is often embedded in minerals like pyrite and chalcopyrite in the form of micro-encapsulated particles, making it difficult to improve recovery rates through traditional beneficiation methods. A certain gold concentrate from Shandong Province faces challenges due to declining ore grade and complex mineral composition, increasing the difficulty of beneficiation. The study used chemical multi-element analysis and Automated Mineralogy and Chemical Imaging System (AMICS) to analyze the ore's mineral composition, gold occurrence state, particle size distribution, and mineral associations to identify the reasons for poor recoverability and provide a basis for optimizing the beneficiation process. The results showed that the gold content of the ore was 42.24 g/t, with gold mainly occurring as telluride gold-silver minerals encapsulated in pyrite and chalcopyrite. The telluride minerals are insoluble and react slowly with cyanide, leading to a low leaching rate. Gangue minerals such as quartz, illite, and orthoclase form associations with gold minerals, complicating the beneficiation process. Gold minerals are fine-grained, and traditional physical beneficiation methods cannot effectively recover gold. Pyrite has a high degree of dissociation, while chalcopyrite and gold minerals have lower dissociation, further limiting gold recovery. The complex encapsulation and association of gold minerals with other minerals is the main reason for the poor recoverability of this ore. The study suggests that chemical beneficiation methods be adopted to improve gold grade for this ore.