What are the best ways to manage cyanide in gold mining?

No Solutions Is Better Than The Basics Understand Small-Scale (No Resources) - Train on safe cyanide handling - Raise awareness in the community about risks/practices Challenge: - Infrastructure limitations - Lack of monitoring due to limited resources Small-Scale - Develop simplified plans for use and disposal. - Partner for shared resources/expertise. Challenge: - Limits funds on adopting advanced technologies. - Lack of expertise to handle regulations Large-Scale - Implement state-of-the-art cyanide management - Employ trained personnel for rigorous monitoring Challenge: - Substantial upfront costs for advanced systems - Navigating complex regulations - Ongoing resources needed for high supervision

Proper disposal of used cyanide. Use of PPE by the workers will also prevent the deadly effect of the workers. Effective monitoring the use for permissible quantity.

In trials sponsored by the USEPA and large corporations Auric BioRecovery, LLC has successfully removed cyanide/nitrate contamination from mine waste waters at several mines in the USA. Recently, prior to gaining a permit to bio rinse, Auric was able to show the Lahontan Water Board, CA that Auric's bioprocesses could remove the cyanide altogether and reduce the naturally occurring levels of nitrates to BLD using bacteria specifically bioaugmented to suit the mine conditions. Interestingly, Auric expects to recover a further 70% of the gold still remaining in the spent ore heap.

Depends On Specific Process Conditions, Budget Constraints, Operational Scale Titration/Colorimetry Pros - Cost-effective for small-scale with limited resources - Relatively simple/straightforward Cons: - Manual labor-intensive - May not provide real-time monitoring. - Limited accuracy Ion-Selective Electrodes Pros - A balance between accuracy | cost - Suitable for small-scale - Gives quantitative measurements Cons - Requires skill/training - Not as real-time as online analyzers - Maintenance required Online Analyzers Pros - Provides real-time monitoring for large-scale - Optimizes efficiency/minimizes cyanide consumption - Advanced; accurate/continuous measurements Cons: - Higher initial cost - Full-time maintenance required

Isolation of concentrated cyanide streams and storing it for further treatment. Treatment can cover: Evaporation and drying pH management and precipitation Reverse osmosis (a reliable but expensive method) Biological process (low reliability and control measures are not applied for efficient removal)

The Auric (TBA Pintail Systems, Inc) biosystems can use existing mine infrastructure and are readily and cost-effectively deployed. Considering that 80% of the cost of extracting gold from ore is associated with mining, crushing, and stacking, the avoidance of these costs in a spent heap recovery project yields significant profitability. For a typical biorecovery project, gold can be recovered at an all-in cost of $300 to $400 an ounce. Furthermore, the Pintail biotechnologies can also treat the heap for cyanide and metals, thus facilitating and expediting closure. Precious metal bio-recovery has been implemented at several closed and operating mines

Technical, Economics, And Environmental Natural Degradation Pros: Low-cost, environmentally friendly Cons: Slower, less controlled Biological Degradation Pros: Somewhat low-cost, utilizes microorganisms Cons: Time-consuming Adsorption Pros: Moderate cost, suitable for small-scale Cons: Replacement of adsorbent material Chemical Oxidation Pros: Accelerates CN^ breakdown Cons: Initial investment Membrane Separation Pros: Efficient removal, suitable for large-scale Cons: High initial cost Precipitation Pros: Effective for larger operations Cons: Require resources Volatilization Pros: Require infrastructure Cons: Specific infrastructure needed

The heap leaching process using cyanide does not remove all of the precious metals, with efficiencies ranging from 50 to 80%. Therefore, for any given heap at the end of mine life, there are significant quantities of gold remaining in the heap. There could be a lot of gold left in the heap. These heaps must be rinsed to remove residual cyanide and toxic metals before closure. Auric has developed and applied biological processes that can recover 50% or more of the residual precious metals in a spent ore heap. These biological solutions are customized to the specific characteristics of each spent heap by determining the types of bacteria (and nutrients) necessary to modify the mineral gold associations to recover the residual gold.