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石中选择性提取黄金的最佳技术，以完全取代适用于黄金开采行业的氰化工艺。我们的技术的总体优势包括更简单、更低的成本、更短的提取时间（室温下），同时为现有氰化工艺提供清洁、安全和环保的替代方案。氰化法由于其浸出率高、工艺成熟，是目前从矿石中提取回收金的主要工艺。该方法包括将矿石中的金溶解在氰化钠溶液中，然后通过活性炭吸附从溶液中提取所得的氰化金络合物。然后通过进一步加入碱性氰化钠溶液将金络合物从活性炭中除去，然后还原为元素金。大量使用氰化钠仍然存在极大的争议，并引起极大的环境问题。已经进行了研究努力，以找到其他适当的替代方法。溶剂萃取技术因其工艺简单、生产能力大、萃取动力学快、选择性高、产品纯度高等优点而被广泛应用于湿法冶金过程中各种金属的回收，是解决这些问题的一种很有前途的技术。因此，从氰化液中直接萃取金的研究受到了广泛的关注。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地实施。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，全球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，以便在世界各地的金矿开采作业中获得许可和实施。

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.