Identification of the Microorganisms Enhancing Cyanide Degradation during Gold Recovery from a Heap Leach Operation

新黄金Mesquite金矿在其堆浸操作中正在经历大量氰化物消耗。因此，该工艺不能依赖于稳定的未利用氰化物流，这些氰化物可以回收到堆中进一步回收黄金。因此，几乎所有维持黄金生产所需的游离氰化物都必须以氰化钠的形式购买，作为补充需求，这对公司来说是一笔重大的年度支出。先前由一家商业环境实验室进行的一项研究确定，堆矿或加工水中存在的微生物或一组微生物是提高氰化物消耗速度的原因。在这个项目中，我们将确定在堆浸现场负责氰化物生物降解的微生物。还将制定抑制生物降解的协议并传达给公司。该项目的潜在后续工作将是开发一种生物处理氰化物污染的尾矿的技术。

New Golds Mesquite gold mine is experiencing significant cyanide consumption at its heap leach operation. As a result, the process cannot rely on a steady stream of unutilized cyanide that can be recycled to the heap for further gold recovery. Consequently, nearly all of the free cyanide required to sustain gold production must be purchased as a make-up requirement in the form of sodium cyanide, which is a significant annual expenditure for the company. A previous study, conducted by a commercial environmental laboratory, determined that microbes, or a group of microbes, present in the heap ore, or make-up process water, are responsible for enhancing the rate of consumption of cyanide. In this project, we will identify the microbes that are responsible for cyanide biodegradation at the heap leach site. A protocol to suppress biodegradation will also be developed and communicated to the company. A potential follow-on to this project will be the development of a technology to biologically treat cyanide contaminated tailings.