6 October 2021

Artisanal and
Small-Scale Gold
Production:
Technology Without
Mercury
Virtual Exhibition

Supported Led by: In partnership with:

by:
Considerations for Alternatives to Mercury

Consider the context of targeted mining communities,

from remote individual operators to more centralized
approaches
Demonstrating higher gold recovery can be truly difficult to
prove to miners
Barriers to financing equipment for mercury free processing
can be substantial depending on the context and are not easily
overcome through traditional financial mechanisms
Replacement or Alternative? To date, there is no direct
replacement for mercury. Does the alternative technology
produce a concentrate that requires another step to get the
gold? If so, how can miners do this?
Orongo Ouma, Technician Assistant
NANSIO
 Artisanal and
Small-Scale
Gold Production:
Technology Without Mercury

6 & 7 October 2021

A GEF GOLD Supply Chain Approach to Eliminating Mercury in Supported by: Led by: In partnership with:

Guyana’s Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) Sector:

El Dorado Gold Jewellery - Made in Guyana
 Ore types at project sites and technologies in
operation in the areas

Location of Project Site Type of Ore Technology and Mining Practices

Small scale miners generally use Dredges and Sluice

Tiger Creek- Puruni, Hard Rock and alluvial.
Boxes. Medium and Large Scale uses cyanide as an
Region 7 (Cuyuni – Mazaruni) This is at a ratio of 30:70.
option.

Small scale miners generally use Dredges and Sluice

Mahdia, Hard Rock and alluvial.
Boxes. Medium and Large-Scale miners would incorporate
Region 8 (Potaro – Siparuni) This is at a ratio of 10:90.
cyanidation in circuit.
Soil type encountered

Laterite
Types of mercury-free technologies proposed for project sites

Crusher
Trommel
Gold Kacha
Shaking Table
Gold Cube
Blue Bowl
 RG30 Trommel
Gemeni Shaking Table

Gold Cube or Gold Konka

Gold Kacha Blue Bowl

Stock Pile Sluice Sump Pit Trommel

Gold Kacha
Gold Masta

Crusher

Shaking Table
Water Testing Sluice Box in Action
work
Estimated gold yield for the mercury-free technologies,
compared to mercury-based technology

Name of Technology Recovery Rate

70% - 75%
Gold Kacha
99%
Gemeni Shaking Table
85% - 95%
Blue Bowl
80% - 90%
Gold Cube
 Costs of the technologies
Name of Equipment Amount per Site Unit Cost (USD) Total Cost (USD) This is a list of the equipment likely to be
Gold Konka 1 $ 2,170.00 $ 2,170.00 used at each demonstration site.
Gold Kacha 2 $ 2,869.00 $ 5,738.00 These are dependent on the Ore composition
Gemeni Shaking Table 1 $ 8,700.00 $ 8,700.00 at a specific site.
RG30 Trommel 1 $ 25,678.00 $ 25,678.00
GOLD Masta 1 $ 500.00 $ 500.00
Generator 1 $ 13,954.00 $ 13,954.00
2 inch Pumps 2 $ 159.00 $ 318.00
4 inch Pumps 1 $ 316.00 $ 316.00
Blue Bowl 1 $ 500.00 $ 500.00
Crusher 1 $ 2,967.00 $ 2,967.00
Total $ 60,841.00
Thank You!
 Gold Katcha and Direct Smelting
Winifrida Kanwa, Solidaridad Eastern and Central Africa 20
Umoja Lwangasa
Mercury pond

21
 Gravity concentration
Avoiding Mercury usage

Gold Katcha Centrifugal concentrator Shaking table (secondary concentrator)

➔ A successful Gravity separation depends on the liberation of Gold from other minerals.
➔ Good Liberation + Good concentration=Mercury free extraction
23
 Direct Smelting
Mercury Free Extractions

Photos: Wikipedia

Direct Smelting Method What you need to do direct smelting

- Smelt Gold purity of up to 98%
1. High grade Concentrate
- Borax and Siliceous flux
2. Crucible
- Smelting of high grade
3. Source of heat (Oxygen gas preferable)
concentration
Temperature 1200 degrees.
- 50-100gms
4. Borax and Lime.
- Efficiency depends on concentration.
 Thank you!
We hope to see you again soon

winifrida.kanwa@solidaridadnetwork.org
• To combat the dangers mercury poses, new equipment and
techniques have been deployed to make mining safer for the
environment, and Commodity Monitor, a logistics, trading and
research company, seeks to promote these practices in Ghana
and other West African countries.

• The technology is for: (i) hard rock gold deposits, (ii) eluvial gold
deposits, and (iii) alluvial gold deposits.

• For all the forms of gold deposits, the combined technology has
gravity-recoverable rate of 90%+. This is based on field
engagements with different miners.
STEP 1
PRIMARY CRUSH MATERIAL

Jaw Crusher (JC)

• The JC allows for hard rock material larger than
40mm to be crushed down to smaller size
(3mm).
• The JC is powered by either electric or diesel
motor.
• It has a throughput of 2-3tph.
STEP 2
IMPACT FINES GRINDER
• The impact grinder crushes hard rocks to size
(100-400 microns) and passed through to the
concentrator.
• We adjust screen sizes based on the nature of
ore of a mining district or community.
• It is powered by either electric or diesel motor
(18kW).
• The feed rate is between 1.5-3tph and requires
2-3 m3/h of water.
STEP 3
CONCENTRATOR
• A centrifugal concentrator is key in gold recovery
and it is fast becoming popular among miners in
Ghana.
• The GoldKacha, which we’ve deployed, is suited to
the recovery of precious metals from dump tailings,
rubble beds and alluvial sands.
• The novel centrifugal riffle principle results in high
recovery of both coarse and fine precious metals.
• It is 1-3tph feed rate and runs on 0.75kW electric
motor.
STEP 4
SLUICE
• The sluice ensures enhanced production of a
higher-grade concentrate and maximise
recoveries.
• The surface matting of the sluice is easy to
clean, making for a quick harvest cycle.
• No power outlet is required.
• The sluice is attached to the concentrator for
gold recovery.
STEP 5
CONCENTRATE UPGRADE
• The GoldKonka upgrader was designed as a
mercury free solution for concentrate
upgrades. It is able to recover the finest
gold particles for small scale mining.
• The recirculative water system enables
miners to conserve water and reduces
pollution.
• It has 0.5tph feed rate capacity.
STEP 6
DIRECT SMELTING
• Commodity Monitor uses a small induction
kettle furnace. It can be used to smelt gold
from the upgrader.
• It is a direct smelt system and is easy to operate
for artisanal and small scale miners.
• We are introducing cupellation system this year
to miners, the first to happen. This will enhance
the purity of gold produced by small scale
miners.
THANK YOU
FOR YOUR ATTENTION
Pact Mines to Market
and
Mount Baker Mining and Metals

Direct Smelting and Cupellation

Critical skills for Hg free doré production

Daniel Stapper, Manager, Pact

Jason Gaber, Owner, MBMM
42
Pact Gold Projects, West Africa

EPRM Mauritania
ASGM formalization & market access

Hummingbird Mali
Support development of LSM / ASM strategy

US-DOS Mali
Mercury abatement

GIZ Sierra Leone US-DOS Ghana

NAP implementation Mercury abatement

43
Producing gold doré
STEP 1: Ore extraction (extract and collect the ore rocks)

STEP 2: Gold liberation (crush and mill the ore rocks) IMPROVE / OPTIMIZE

STEP 3: Mineral Concentration (concentrate the heavy minerals)

IMPROVE / OPTIMIZE

STEP 4: Process the concentrate to produce a gold ‘dore’

This can be done in 2 ways:
(i.) Amalgamate or Leach (mercury, cyanide, etc.) & FOLLOW BY
(ii.) Direct smelting DIRECT
SMELTING
Pact Hg-free Interventions: from improving sluicing through concentrators, and MBMM shaking table

All of these technologies produce a mineral concentrate..

Pact training on Direct Smelting in Nigeria, inspired by Jason’s instructional videos

 Pb melts at 327°C
Ag melts at 960°C
Direct Smelting vs Cupellation Au melts at 1,064 °C

“Direct Smelting” is the term used for melting down a mineral concentrate in order to
separate the precious metal

It is an energy intensive process because you must bring the mineral concentrate past the
melting point of gold (1,064°C)

For direct smelting to be effective (for most ASGMs)

o maximum mass of mineral concentrate which can realistically be smelted in a single batch by
ASGMs is 100 - 500 g (requires approx. 30 minutes - 1 hour)
o mineral concentrate should have minimum 2% gold

100 g 250 g 500 g

Table 1. Direct Smelting: gold doré result
2% 2 5 10
(in grams) based on Au grade and size of
mineral concentrate. 5% 5 10 20
10% 10 20 40
 Pb melts at 327°C
Direct Smelting vs Cupellation Ag melts at 960°C
Au melts at 1,064 °C

“Cupellation” is a metallurgical process of refining - to separate precious metals from

base metals (lead, zinc, and copper)

Cupellation is used in the process of assaying, but the method can also be used to
produce clean gold doré

For cupellation to be effective (for most ASGMs)

o final step of the direct smelting process, to purify gold button
o used with high grade concentrates (e.g. snuffer bottle, ~75%) to produce clean gold button doré
o Small amount of lead or bismuth is added which helps separate impurities from the gold
48
 Recap: Direct Smelting vs Cupellation

100 – 500 grams of mineral concentrate containing >2% Au 2 – 100 g of concentrate containing >75% Au

• Add fluxes to crucible, based on composition • Add concentrate to cupel & add lead or bismuth (~2:1).
o to deal with sulfides: roasting can be used OR add iron • Subject cupel to heat until melted
bar to the smelt which acts as oxidizer during smelt
o If low gold content, consider adding small amount of • As the “charge” melts (starting with lead), it turns to
collector metal (lead, copper or bismuth) litharge (a type of lead oxide) which is absorbed into the
porous cupel, taking the other base metals with it
• Subject crucible to heat until fully melted
• Pour the “charge” into a steel cone mold
• Separate the metallic phase from the slag
o want to see good metal separation with the slag;
o do not want to see a matte phase b/c this robs metals
from the metallic phase;
• Once you have metal button, refine using cupellation
Direct Smelting is sometimes called the “Borax
Method” but this can be confusing because all gold
shops use borax when melting Au.
 o Lead cost 5 USD / kg (0.5 cents/gr.)
o Copper cost 10 USD / kg (1 cents/gr.)
Cost Analysis o Bismuth cost 50 USD / kg (5 cents/gr.)
o Mercury cost b/w 100 and 250 USD / kg (b/w 10 and 25 cents/gr.)

Direct Smelting Operating Cost Comparison : Direct Smelting vs. Hg amalgamation

setup costs (based on sample work in Nigeria, using 5 grams Au in 100 grams concentrate)

Hardware Costs USD Cost item USD Cost item USD

tongs 10 silica crucibles 0.33 Hg @ 7.5 grams 1.88
forge/furnace 20 borax 0.32 detergent soap 0.15
soda ash 0.50 butane/propane 0.25
leather gloves, PPE 5
butane/propane 2.50 total 2.03
torch and cylinder 20
total 3.65
steel mould 12
total 67
Direct Smelting, cost Hg amalgamation, cost
per 5 grams of Au per 5 grams of Au

= 1.3% of value of the gold = 0.7% of value of the gold

 6 October 2021

planetGOLD
Mercury-Free
Technology Fair
Sixto Aguero
Chief Mineral Processing Engineer

Санхүүжүүлэгч: Үндсэн хэрэгжүүлэгч: Хамтран хэрэгжүүлэгчид:

Image: A woman pans crushed ore mixed with mercury to extract gold in a small processing facility located
at the foothills of the Minahang Bayan of Paracale, Camarines Norte, one of the staging sites for the
planetGOLD Philippines project | Lyka Cabatay | May 2021
 Vibration Mills

Vibration Mill Schematic

(AGC, 2021)

Vibration Mill at Manufacturer (AGC, 2021)

In the US, grinding represents:
• 0.5% primary energy use
• 3.8% total electricity
• 40% mining industry energy use
• Ball mill, 15% energy efficient
• Vibration mill, 40% energy efficient
The Stress Forces of Rock Mechanics

A- Tensile

B- Compression

D-Shearing
C- Impaction
E- Attrition

(Metso, 2015)
Grinding Is?
A powdering or pulverizing process.

The two main PURPOSES for a grinding process are:

1. To liberate individual minerals trapped in rock crystals

2. To produce fines from mineral fractions by increasing

the specific surface
 Grinding Methods

A - Tumbling B - Stirring C - Vibration

(Metso, 2015)
(General Kinematics, 2015)
Technology Features
 More Uniform Particle Shape (5 – 3,000 microns)
Generates a high degree of impact energy
 Low Initial Cost and Maintenance Cost
Lower foundation requirements and 5-10 longer media life
 Proven Energy Savings
Range from 35-50% reductions in kW hours per ton of processed material
 Reduced Maintenance Costs
There are no expensive drive reducers or mill support bearings to maintain
Only 60% of the grinding chamber requires liners
 Increased Flexibility
Wet or dry process
 Easy to Use/Train
https://youtu.be/oHOl_pOuiyQ
Process Flow Sheet
Jaw Crusher &
Screen

Vibration Mill Mid-Tailings

Sluice/Table Tailings
(Game Changer) (Leaching)

Concentrate
(Daily Cash)
Specifications Value
Power (kW) 14
Feed size (mm) 100% pass 5 mm
Vibrating frequency (Hz) 980 rpm
Grinding type Dry
Liner/media material Manganese steel
Machine material Carbon Steel
Cost (USD) 20,000
Thank you.
cleangold

Kristina Shafer, Cleangold LLC

www.cleangold.com

Director, Institute for Sustainable Mining AKA

Artminers.org
info@artminers.org
Oregon, USA
cleangold
cleangold
cleangold
cleangold
cleangold
cleangold
cleangold
cleangold
cleangold
cleangold
cleangold
cleangold
cleangold
cleangold
cleangold
cleangold
cleangold
John Richmond, CEO
Sluice Goose
 7 October 2021

Artisanal and Small-

Scale Gold
Production:
Technology Without
Mercury
Virtual Exhibition

Supported by: Led by: In partnership with:

October 6-7, 2021

Technologies for
a mercury-free
Colombia

Supported by: Led by: In partnership with:

 Mobile
plants for
primary gold
Three technological
proposals
Mobile plants
for the benefit
Focused on training, on pilot trials of alluvial gold

and on small production.

Mercury-free, transportable,
autonomous and scalable
equipment.

Supported by knowledge and

technical control. Metallurgical
Laboratory
 Mobile plants for the benefit of alluvial gold

Plants for the gravitational separation of gold

to increase the productivity of current
processes without the use of mercury Difficulties that are solved

Alluvial deposits with difficulties in the recovery of

fine gold
Miners who use mercury in the riverbed
Installation of a mobile plant for the benefit of alluvial gold in Caucasia, Antioquia
 Mobile plants for primary gold

Plants with processes for the comminution of

the material and gravitational separation of
gold in stages without the use of mercury
Difficulties that are solved

Primary gold deposits in need of comminution

and concentration processes
Difficulty recovering fine gold
Mobile plant for primary gold in Suárez, Cauca
Miners using mercury to recover gold
 Metallurgical laboratory for mineral characterization

Mobile laboratories to monitor processes

that ensure efficient and clean mineral Benefits and uses
production

Laboratory techniques for analysis of quantity of

gold, content, clean benefit methods.
The laboratory accompanies the intervened
plants during the monitoring of the transfer
processes to clean production
Mobile Plant
Miner Testimonials
 Thank you!
Supported by: Led by: In partnership with:
 7 October 2021

planetGOLD
Mercury-Free
Technology Fair
Douglas Kao
Mineral Processing Engineer, EIT

Image: A woman pans crushed ore mixed with mercury to extract gold in a small processing facility located
at the foothills of the Minahang Bayan of Paracale, Camarines Norte, one of the staging sites for the
planetGOLD Philippines project | Lyka Cabatay | May 2021
 Technical Design
Philosophy
• Firm understanding of existing
ASGM ecosystem
• Identify technology
appropriateness
 Socio-economically feasible?
 Politically suitable?
 Environmentally acceptable?
 What are some potential
unintended consequences?
• No "one-size-fits all" solution

(AGC, 2016)
 Process Control
& Fundamentals
“SOFTWARE” IMPROVEMENTS

Deciphering the “black box”

● Grain size control

 Improved gold liberation
● Reagent optimization
 Dosage control, cost savings
FEATURES
 pH control, safety
● Leaching kinetics optimization
 Increased throughput
● Understanding of assaying/ mass
balancing (Nadolski, 2015)
 AGC Back-End
Circuits/System

Concentrating Spiral (AGC, 2021)

“HARDWARE” IMPROVEMENTS

● Gravimetric options: Shaking table,

concentrating spiral, centrifuge
● Leaching options: Cyanidation, alternative
FEATURES
cyanidation methods
● Physical separation options: Agglomeration
method, flotation
Gold Smelting (AGC, 2019)
 Amino Acid-Assisted
Leaching
• Reduces CN consumption up
to 75%
• Amino acid substitute is
environmentally benign
• Minimal change to miners’
operations
• Upwards recoveries of 80%

Amino Acid-Produced Gold Bead (AGC, 2019)

 Carbon Agglomeration Method

• Experimental stages
 Bench scale testing in
Canada
 Field trials in Peru and
Honduras
• Utilizes hydrophobicity of gold
• Recoveries of 60-80%

Gold Recovery Agglomerates (AGC, 2021)

Outcomes & Uptake
● Improvement of existing gravity
concentration techniques of miners
● Secondary recovery from intermediate
IMPROVEMENTS tailings of miners
● Higher overall throughput and gold
production

● Metallurgy 101
● Hands-on equipment operation
● Metallurgical accounting
TRAININGS NEEDED ● Lab analytical techniques
● OHS training
● Tailings management

MINERS’ UPTAKE ● As long as no Hg and CN use

● As long as higher recovery than current
ON PROPOSED process
TECH ● Fewer legal run-ins
Thank you.
planetGOLD
Presentation
October 2021
Management
Executive Chairman Executive Vice President sales and marketing
Roger Pettman, PhD DSC. A serial entrepreneur who was a NASCAR Professional driver who has owned several car
Founder of Cycladex body shops before inventing and developing a novel insect control machine. Owner of
Co-Founder of Revolymer raising £40m including an AIM IPO Triple 7 Mining and an expert in the design of Cycladex facilities. Responsible for Sales &
Co-founder Chirex with $147m NASDAQ IPO Marketing worldwide

Chief Financial Officer Executive VP, Technology Transfer

Christine Betts ACA Dale Arnold CCHEM
Former CFO of Microsoft UK with 2000+ employees DuPont Chemical Engineer with 35 yrs experience in plant design, build and commissioning
Joined Microsoft with 4 UK employees Engineered titanium dioxide plant in Taiwan from inception to production
Responsible for the building of Microsoft Reading Campus. Developed and scaled up Cycladex process development

Independent Non-Executive Director Indepentdent Adviser

Professor Adrian Boyce Sir Fraser Stoddart, Nobel Laureate
Leader in Applied Geoscience research Director for the Chemistry of Integrated Systems at Northwestern University
4 decades of Scientific Research into Mineral Deposits Knighted by the Queen for his work in nanotechnology
Published over 300 peer-reviewed papers Awards include; the King Faisal International Prize, the Albert Einstein World Award, the
Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) and Geology Applied to Mineral Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology and the Tetrahedron Prize for Creativity in Organic
Deposits (SGA) Chemistry. Over 1000 publications in the most prestigious scientific journals
Burning ambition to make an impact on society

Founded on Nobel Prize winning Chemistry and Funded by the National Science Foundation.
Key Facts
Types of Ore Where is Cycladex? The Process Lixiviant
Works Well Arizona – Commercial VAT leaching Environmentally friendly
Facility (100MT per day) chemicals
Oxide Ores Trapping gold and silver
Utah – Pilot on cartridges Chemicals are
Refractory Ores
South Dakota - Pilot Heap Leaching of low commodities available
High Copper worldwide
grade materials
Honduras – Being built
High Ironj Large Companies will pre-
Artisanal can use existing
Mexico – Being built pack for us
Mercury Contaminated mercury equipment
Chile – Pilot Artisanal just have to add
reagent A and reagent B.
Mauritania – Being Built
Difficult
Cycladex can formulate
High Carbon locally

High Carbonates Low Cost

 How Does it Work For Artisanal Miners

Crushed Separate ore and Trap gold and silver

Stir ore and Leach
ore liquid
Crushed not 1h reaction time Filter Flow through column
powdered Any stirred tank Decant Add teabag of resin
Add pre- Rotating 50 gallon Tip liquid out Pour through pipe containing
packed leach drum resin
Bath and a paddle

Gold Ash resin

Swap cartridge
Recycle lixiviate

Silver

© Cycladex 2021
CHEMTURA CONFIDENTIAL
Some More Key Facts
Water Electricity Waste Scale
Any water Can be carried out by Everything recycled Centralized processing
hand plant
200L per 100 Kg of ore Tailings washed with lime
Power to crush and stir water to make neutral Small scale with 50 gallon
15% loss due to
adsorption by tails 1-2 hp motor drum

Room temperature Even wheelbarrow and

paddle
No water waste
Everything recycled
 Cycladex Community Mining Processing Facility

Artisanal Miner truck in Analyze ore on each truck, agree

content pay immediately Crush Ore
ore

Artisanal miner trucks bricks back Convert tailings into bricks, rooftiles Process gold using Cycladex
to community Environmentally friendly process.
Sell gold and silver.
Contact

Tom Boston
Executive Vice President
phone: +1 928 391 7006
email: tom.boston@cycladex.com
Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold
Production: Technology Without Mercury
Presenters:
Kristina Kazakoff
Principal Chemical & Process Engineer

Nicole Looney
Environmental & Technical Executive
 A part of the Clean Earth Technologies group, Clean Mining Pty
Ltd owns the technology to the award-winning, non-toxic gold
recovery process using thiosulfate, developed by Australia’s
national science agency, CSIRO.

With more than a decade of development and an in-field validation,

results have proven this solution to be the mineral processing
technology of the future. Through commercialization, this
technology will set “a new gold standard” for mining production
worldwide.
Cleaner Planet, Healthier Communities
Clean Mining’s (thiosulfate) technology is being further developed
in collaboration with CSIRO for implementation at gold operations
around the world.
WHAT IS OUR SOLUTION?
• Award-winning, non-toxic solution, developed alongside CSIRO

• Widely applicable / scalable to broad range of ores / operations

• Potential to eliminate hazardous tailings dams entirely

• Only genuine solution for replacing mercury in ASGM

• Our blended reagent is classified as not dangerous goods of class 9

and contains no toxic elements

• Recent environmental test work on 2-year-old tailings from demonstration

plant did not indicate any acidification of soils
RATE OF

GOLD
EXTRACTION
We have conducted over 150 tests globally on
the rate of gold extraction using our non-toxic solution and
here are some of our results
 USA PHILIPPINES AUSTRALIA

• Sample Head Grade: 43.9g/t Au • Sample Head Grade: 17.25g/t Au • Sample Head Grade: 706/t Au
• Ore Type: Refractory Sulfide • Ore Type: Carbonaceous Artisanal • Ore Type: Concentrate
ARTISANAL HUB
FLOWSHEET

Resin
GRA1
GRA2

Crush/Grind Dewatering Batch Leaching Screening Resin Elution Precipitate

Drying Oven

Solution

Furnace

Solids to tails as
dry as possible

Dore
CRUSHING/GRINDING

• Ore prepared as normal – crushing o Panning

and/or grinding o Sluicing
• Visible gold (nuggets) removed as per o Shaking Tables
standard concentration methods such o Concentrators
as;
DEWATERING
• Ore to be leached/dissolved with Clean Mining Reagent
should be as dry as possible
• Can be left in the sun to dry
• Dewatering equipment such as centrifuge or filter press
REAGENT MIXING

• Clean Mining Reagent (powder) added to water to dissolve

BATCH LEACHING

• Ore
• Solution
• Resin
• Agitate for period of time
• Can be done in tanks
Resin
SCREENING

• Screen and collect Resin • Recovered solution can be topped up with more Clean
• Filter liquid from ore Mining Reagent and used for new leach batch
• Solids to tailings
GRA2
GRA1
RESIN ELUTION
• Add Resin to Elution vessel
• Add Elution chemicals and stir to create Elution solution
• Remove Resin and re-use in next leaching batch
 PRECIPITATE

Drying Oven

Furnace

• Add Precipitate reagent to Eluate • Add to furnace with normal smelting

Solution fluxes
• Recover ‘Black Precipitate’ • Pour Dore Bar
Dore
• Dry precipitate
R&D TEST DEMONSTRATION:
 THANK YOU
For more information, please contact
Kristina Kazakoff or Nicole Looney at:

• SINGAPORE 112 Robinson Road, #05-04, Singapore 068902

• AUSTRALIA Office 3, 10 Eastbrook Terrace, East Perth, WA, 6004

• T +65 9382 6401 E info@cleanmining.co W www.cleanmining.co

Alternatives to Eliminate
the Use of Mercury in
Artisanal Gold Mining

Marcello Veiga
Pariya Torkaman
 How Artisanal Gold Miners Use Mercury
Tailings with Secondary
Cyanide
Ore Primary Ore
Ore
Tailings
Concentration Grinding
Cyanidation Concentrate
Tailings with Ore MAIN
Whole Ore
Hg(CN)2 Amalgamation Amalgamation
PROBELMS
Tailings with Hg

Amalgam
Burning Hg to the Air
Tailing
with Hg
 The Technological Approach Has Also
Been Tried but…
• Changes in technology need SKILLS and MONEY
• Amalgamation of the whole ore and cyanidation of Hg-
contaminated tailings are the main problems
• Adequate concentration (gravity + flotation) and
amalgamation of concentrates reduce Hg use and losses
• Alternative gold extraction processes from concentrates
require good amount of $
Gold from Alluvial Operations
Does Not Need Mercury
• Alluvial Gold is usually LIBERATED
• Direct Smelting has been used for
centuries in Canada and elsewhere
• But in many other types of ores
GOLD IS NOT LIBERATED
• It can be concentrated but NOT
AMALGAMATED
Gold from Alluvial Operations
Does Not Need Mercury

Indonesia
 Direct Smelting of
gold
borax concentrate Concentrates
All gold particles must
coalesce… get together, to
Slag sink in the melted mixture

If the concentrate is not

VERY RICH, gold is lost in
the slag
Gold
 Gravity Very yellow concentrate =
low Au recovery
Concentration is Recovery
Not a Panacea

The higher the gold

Concentrate
grade in Grade
concentrates the Mass of concentrate
lower in the gold
recovery More mass of concentrate =
low grade but high Au recovery
 Who Are the Main Hg Polluters?
(out of 20 million AGMs)

Laos

Processing Center in Zimbabwe

 Cost of a Decent Processing Plant
tonnes processed per
day
(tpd)

Note: 300 days/a of operation, tpa = tonnes processed per annumr

CAPEX 50 tpd = $ 34000 per tonne processed per day

CAPEX 10 tpd = $ 65400 per tonne processed per day
 Cost of a Processing Plant
100 600
90
OPEX/tpa CAPEX/tpa 500
80

CAPEX (US$/tpa)
70
OPEX (US$/tpa)

400
60
50 300
40
30 200
20 100
10
0 0
2 5 10 25 50 100 200
Processing Rate(tpd)
 How about the Processing Centers?
• They must CHANGE or BE ELIMINATED
• How?
• Transforming these Centers into real processing
companies to co-exist with AGM
• They should BUY the ores from miners and stop
exploiting them using amalgamation to extract the easy
free Au and retaining rich tailings to be leached with CN
• Pay FAIR price for the gold in the ores
 Advantages of Co-existence
• Processing companies provide assistance to
artisanal miners in the mines and process the ores
sold by them
• No investment or operating costs for miners
• Miners receive more $ (more for the Au content)
• No mercury or cyanide in the hands of miners
• Miners do not need to obtain environmental
permits (use subcontracts)
 Advantages of Co-existence
• Many examples in Colombia, Peru, Nicaragua and
now in Costa Rica
• Miners mine and Companies process the ore
• Different types of co-existence:
1. Companies buy ore and process in a plant
2. Share results of the processing with miners
• Disadvantage: long process of create trust
 Newlox Model
• Operating in Costa Rica since 2014 buying Hg-
contaminated tailings (85 tonnes/day)
• Remove Hg, concentrate and leach concentrates
with cyanide
• Now starting a 150 tonnes/day plant in partnership
with the artisanal mining cooperative
• After paying the operating costs, the profit is
shared 50-50%
Plant for Re-processing ASGM Tailings

Costa Rica
Plant for Re-processing ASGM Tailings

Costa Rica
 Costa Rica
Plant for Re-processing ASGM Tailings
Tailings
85 tpd
tailings - bricks ?
Ag
- roads ?
Plates
Agitator
Flotation
OF
conc.

tailings

Cement + Sulphur
Intensive
UF water Cyanidation
Mill
Smelting
Centrifuge
Hg concentrate
Au & Ag
 What Technologies NERD is developing for
Newlox plants?
• Methods for leaching gravity and flotation
concentrates
• Extract Hg before leaching
• Using Cassava
• Using DMSO
• Using Cyanide + Zn in a modified Merrill-Crowe
 Removing Hg from Contaminated Tailings
Tailing with
63 g Hg/t
3 times

Ag-
covered 1.2 m
Plates

Tailings
3 g Hg/t 0.3 m
0.5 m
Lab prototype
Removing Hg from Contaminated Tailings
 Cyanogenic Plants
• More than 2000 plants contain
glycosides that can be converted to
cyanide by hydrolysis (e.g. Bamboo,
Sorghum, Lima Beans, Cassava, etc.)
• Some bamboo can have as much as
7.7 g of cyanide/kg of plant
• Some bitter cassava can have 2.4 g of
cyanide/kg of plant
 Cassava
• Around 98 species of cassava with
different levels of the cyanogenic
glycosides in which Linamarin is the
main one
• Free cyanide is produced by reaction of
the Linamarin with Linamarase (enzyme)
 Flour Production
• World cassava production is around 300
million tonnes annually
• Brazil produces 6.5% of world’s cassava
• 1.5 million people involved in Brazil alone
• Bitter cassava is the main raw material
• Main cassava use is to make flour or starch

Peeling cassava in Brazil

 Manipueira
• The liquid extracted from cassava (“manipueira”), 30% of the
root weight, is rich in cyanide, reaching up to 2000 mg/L Free CN
• The cassava we eat has <20 mg of cyanide per kg of cassava
• Manipueira can be used to leach gold in small-scale
 Bitter Cassava To Dissolve Gold
• Preliminary results in the UBC laboratory using a cassava
with 267 mg/L free CN in 24 h resulted in 50-60% gold
recovery from an artisanal gold sample
• Same conditions with pure NaCN reached 70% extraction
• Some preg-rob condition was observed, then the starch
must be removed by flotation before using the
manipueira
 DMSO
(in collaboration with Dr. Akihiro Yoshimura from Chiba Univ., Japan)

• DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) is used for cosmetics and

paints
• A product with very low toxicity and a price compatible
with sodium cyanide
• With a catalyst (copper salt) and sodium chloride
• Once gold is dissolved, it is precipitated with water or
vinegar or lemon juice… no need of activated carbon
• DMSO can be recycled
• Main disadvantage: Not too many producers of DMSO
 DMSO
(in collaboration with Dr. Akihiro Yoshimura from Chiba Univ., Japan)

• Results with amalgamation tailings from Costa Rica:

Temp (°C) Time (h) % Au extracted Au Extracted (%) @ 40 oC
20 24 92.63 100
30 8 95.58 80
40 8 96.51 60

50 4 93.56 40

50 6 96.72 20

60 8 95.94 0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time (h)

More than 90% Au extraction in 2 h at 40 oC

 Modified Merrill-Crowe
• Main problem of the Merrill-Crowe process to precipitate
gold from cyanide solution (including cassava) is the
need of clear (filtration) and de-aerated solution
• The idea is not to filter and not to use vacuum
• Tests using some socks with Zinc shavings and very low
agitation of the pulp
• Results with material from Costa Rica:
• 99.6% of gold removal from solution in 2 h from Hg-
tailings (Hg was also removed)
• 99.3% of gold removed from Newlox ore
 Conclusion
• Technology is only a piece of the complex actions to
eliminate Hg from AGM
• Technology is not a universal solution, it depends on the
ore, the site, the skills, the capital, etc.
• Co-existence provides the best solution to remove the
processing steps from the artisanal miners’ hands
• Processing Centers and small companies can use Hg-
free techniques which are more efficient and cleaner
 Thanks
Marcello Veiga
veigamining@gmail.com
Pariya Torkaman
pariya.tn@gmail.com