NSERC I2I phase I application - a new process for selective extraction of gold from gold ore: an alternative to the cyanide process applicable to the gold mining industry

我们正在开发从金矿中选择性提金的最佳技术，以完全取代适用于黄金采矿业的氰化工艺。我们技术的总体优势包括更简单、更低的成本、相当短的提取时间(在室温下)，同时为现有的氰化工艺提供了一种清洁、安全和环保的替代方案。氰化法浸出效率高，工艺成熟，是从矿石中提取和回收金的主要工艺。该过程包括在氰化钠溶液中溶解矿石中的金，然后通过活性碳吸附从溶液中提取生成的金氰化物络合物。然后，通过进一步添加碱性氰化钠溶液将金的络合物从活性碳中除去，然后将其还原为单质金。使用大量氰化钠仍然极具争议性，并引起极大的环境关注。已经进行了研究，以寻找其他适当的替代方法。溶剂萃取法具有工艺简单、生产能力高、萃取动力学快、选择性高、产品纯度高等优点，已被广泛应用于湿法冶金过程中各种金属的回收，是一种很有前途的技术。因此，从氰化液中直接溶剂萃取金的研究受到了极大的关注。然而，在黄金生产的工业化过程中，还没有一种溶剂萃取系统被成功实施。加拿大是世界第七大黄金生产国，每年生产约100吨黄金，但加拿大仍然是世界黄金市场的主要参与者，世界上75%的矿业公司总部设在加拿大。在NSERC I2I计划的资助下，我们将把这项技术转移到加拿大矿业公司手中，以便获得许可并在世界各地的黄金开采业务中实施。

We are developing the best technology for selective extraction of gold from gold ore to completely replace the cyanidation process applicable to the gold mining industry. Overall advantages of our technology include increased simplicity, lower costs, considerably shorter extraction times (at room temperature) while providing a clean, safe and environmentally friendly alternative to the existing cyanidation process. The cyanidation process is the dominant technique for extraction and recovery of gold from ore due to the high leaching efficiency and mature technology of the operation. The process involves dissolution of gold from ore in a sodium cyanide solution, following which the resulting gold cyanide complex is extracted from the solution by activated carbon adsorption. The gold complex is then removed from the activated carbon by further addition of a basic sodium cyanide solution and then reduced to elemental gold. The use of large amounts of sodium cyanide remains extremely controversial and is of great environmental concern. Research efforts have been made to find other appropriate alternative methods. Solvent extraction techniques, which have been widely used in the recovery of various metals in hydrometallurgical processes, is a promising technique to overcome these problems because it has a number of advantages including simple technology, high production capacity, fast extraction kinetics, high selectivity and high product purity. As a result, studies on the direct solvent extraction of gold from cyanide solution have received considerable attention. However, no solvent extraction system has ever been successfully implemented in the industrialization of gold production. Canada is the seventh largest gold producer in the world producing about 100 tonnes of gold per year, however Canada remains a major player in the world gold market with 75% of the world's mining companies being headquartered in Canada. With funding from the NSERC I2I program, we will move this technology into the hands of Canadian mining companies to be licensed and implemented in gold mining operations around the world.