PROCESSING

CSIRO's cyanide-free gold showcases non-toxic solution

CSIRO has produced Australia's first gold using a non-toxic chemical process

Staff reporter
A sample of the gold made without cyanide

A sample of the gold made without cyanide

PRESS RELEASE: The first gold is the result of early industry trials of CSIRO's 'going for gold' technology and was produced in partnership with small gold miner Eco Minerals Research at a demonstration plant in the Western Australian goldfields town of Menzies.

Cyanide is used in more than 90% of global gold production, but producers are facing increasingly tough regulations that prevent or restrict its use due to environmental and health concerns.

In response to recent spills of toxic cyanide, several regional agencies in the US, South America and Europe have banned the use of cyanide for gold extraction.

The technology replaces cyanide with thiosulphate, a non-toxic alternative, and a simple process flowsheet.

CSIRO stated that it could be a game-changer for Eco Minerals Research, which has its sights set on becoming the first Australian producer to go cyanide-free.

Paul Hanna, managing director at Eco Minerals Research, said: "The first gold is a major milestone in our progress towards becoming one of the world's first green gold producers. In close collaboration with CSIRO we've gone through the design, engineering and fabrication stages and set up a processing facility in Menzies, delivering the first gold pour in just 10 months, which is a fantastic achievement."

The CSIRO research team behind the technology has already had commercial success with another tailored cyanide-free gold solution developed with Barrick Gold specifically for its Goldstrike mine in Nevada, US, where it has been used for nearly four years to maintain production rates.

The A$2.1 million (US$1.5 million) demonstration project was made possible through A$860,000 in funding from the Science and Industry Endowment fund (SIEF) and an Australian Government Innovation Connections grant.

Dr Larry Marshall, chief executive of CSIRO, commented: "Science enabling industry and environment to be partners not competitors, exactly as envisioned in our market vision - turning commodities into higher value, uniquely Australian products. It has been accelerated through CSIRO's ON programme, and could be a game-changer for small gold producers or those looking to get ahead of increasing market demand for greener commodities. Early industry trials like this are critical to innovation and go to the heart of CSIRO's mission to tackle big, real-world challenges and unlock a better future for everyone."

To reduce economic barriers to entry for small producers and help turn stranded gold deposits into production, CSIRO's vision is to deliver the alternative process technology direct to mine sites via a mobile service.

A typical cyanide-based processing plant costs around A$30 million, whereas the new technology has a lower capital investment costing as little as A$2-2.5 million to build.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Magazine Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Magazine Intelligence team.

editions

ESG Mining Company Index: Benchmarking the Future of Sustainable Mining

The ESG Mining Company Index report provides an in-depth evaluation of ESG performance of 61 of the world's largest mining companies. Using a robust framework, it assesses each company across 9 meticulously weighted indicators within 6 essential pillars.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Exploration Report 2024 (feat. Opaxe data)

A comprehensive review of exploration trends and technologies, highlighting the best intercepts and discoveries and the latest initial resource estimates.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Future Fleets Report 2024

The report paints a picture of the equipment landscape and includes detailed profiles of mines that are employing these fleets

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Digitalisation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations that use digitalisation technology to drive improvements across all areas of mining production