Tag Archives: Draslovka

Draslovka goes commercial with GlyCat leaching at Barrick’s Buylanhulu

Draslovka a.s., a provider of sustainability-led technologies, reagents and services for mining and the energy transition, has progressed its previously announced partnership with Barrick Gold and, today, announces the start of commercial use of its revolutionary glycine leaching technology for gold, GlyCat™, at Barrick’s Buylanhulu operation in Tanzania.

In addition, Draslovka and Barrick’s strategic partnership will now include a broader testing program in 2024 that will span multiple mining sites.

At Bulyanhulu Gold Mine, the GlyCat pilot program has led to an 80% reduction in cyanide consumption while achieving gold recoveries that are comparable with traditional cyanidation, Draslovka says. With GlyCat as part of the process, the mine’s tailings show undetectable levels of WAD and are free of cyanide, thereby reducing detoxification requirements and costs.

Pavel Bruzek Jr, CEO of Draslovka, said: “This licensing agreement follows a highly successful pilot programme that proved the major benefits GlyCat offers to the gold mining industry. GlyCat provides significant economic and sustainability benefits at a time when the future of mining is conditional on cost savings, sustainable operations and securing social license to operate. I look forward to continuing to work with Barrick and am confident others in the sector will soon see that GlyCat is revolutionary and its development will enable a major shift for the gold mining industry through massive economic and environmental benefits. Barrick was the first major mining company to recognise the potential glycine leaching offers and it is a pleasure and honour to work with the team on its commitment to sustainable operations.”

Simon Bottoms, Barrick Mineral Resource Management & Evaluations Executive, added: “The application of GlyCat technology within our operations has significant potential to deliver improved operational efficiencies and cost savings, whilst also improving our environmental legacy. Consequently, we are very pleased to embark upon this strategic partnership with Draslovka to take advantage of this innovative technology across our global operations.”

Cyanide and glycine leaching leader, Draslovka, looks to bring caustic soda production in house

Draslovka a.s. says it is in advanced discussions with technology-driven producers of caustic and chlor-alkali derivatives, including spolchemie, and several other international businesses with an aim of partnering with a producer to build a production facility at the company’s existing site in Memphis, Tennessee, using existing plant infrastructure.

The facility will apply the latest global production technologies to capture sustainability and economic benefits for all stakeholders, according to Draslovka.

Caustic soda is used in the production of Glycine Leaching Technology (GLT), Draslovka’s proprietary innovative leaching solution that, it says, offers substantive cost and sustainability benefits in the process of leaching metals from certain ores (including gold, nickel, cobalt and copper). Caustic soda is also used to produce sodium cyanide, used by the majority of the gold industry for processing.

By building and operating a caustic soda facility in partnership with an internationally-recognised specialist partner in the chlor-alkali value chain, Draslovka seeks to produce caustic soda in the most financially and energy-efficient manner to secure significant sustainability benefits compared with a number of current legacy producers, it says. As the market dynamics of caustic soda pricing can be volatile and US-sourced caustic soda is significantly more expensive than caustic soda from Asia and Australia, the move will allow Draslovka to significantly reduce its costs and improve competitive power. Own production will also give the company enhanced control of its supply chain.

The discussions with partners on expanding into caustic soda production and the chlor-alkali value chain are in line with Draslovka’s strategy of expansion and investment in sustainable processes and solutions, it says. The Memphis plant produces the majority of Draslovka’s mining solutions products and near-term production of GLT is being considered.

Pavel Bruzek, Chief Executive Officer of Draslovka, said: “These discussions are in line with our strategy of offering high-quality, cost-effective and sustainable mining solutions to our valued customers. We always strive to find the most economic supply of ingredients, hence we have begun discussions with several caustic soda manufacturers to partner and produce this integral ingredient. Own production will be a buffer against the macro factors of today, such as geopolitics, inflation and supply chain bottlenecks, as well as the fundamental disconnect between the US and the rest of the world’s caustic soda pricing. Our clients will have peace of mind they are accessing the full range of our sodium cyanide, GLT solutions and other mining products in a timely manner and at advantageous market prices.”

James Stockbridge, Director of Mining Process Solutions, Draslovka, said: “I am excited that the Memphis plant is being considered for the expansion into the production of caustic soda. Caustic soda price in the US is creating major headwinds to our competitive power in the international markets. Draslovka has invested heavily in the technology and process improvement at the Memphis facility since acquiring it in 2021 and we are committed to the area and our community in Memphis. We have a proud history and expertise, and the additional new facilities will allow us to expand our pool of local staff and affirm our leading position in the local business community.”

Think & Act Differently Cohort set to revolutionise in-situ recovery

The Think & Act Differently (TAD) incubator, powered by BHP, has announced its support for a new cohort that has come together to develop an innovative technology roadmap for in-situ and alternative extraction options, the company says, lower the impact of mining and processing.

In collaboration with its partner, Unearthed, the TAD Cohort was curated through a venture-style selection process, which also involved selection of members from the TAD Ecosystem.

This cohort is supported and funded by BHP, Boliden, Rio Tinto, South32 and IGO, as part of the TAD Collaboration that is commited to unlocking new technologies and reimagining lower impact mining and processing to find value in overlooked resources.

The TAD Cohort comprises a diverse group of companies ready to apply new ways of thinking to in-situ recovery. It includes:

  • Auric BioRecovery: using bio recovery processes to release metal from tailings;
  • Clean & Recover: ElectroClear recovery of water from acid mine drainage;
  • Destiny Copper: Using high activation potential and chemistry to eliminate electricity requirements for plating copper;
  • Draslovka: A ‘green’ recyclable lixiviant, selective in leaching base and precious metals from host minerals (pictured in a test lab above);
  • Eden GeoPower: Rock preconditioning technology to enable in-situ solution mining;
  • Ekion: Enabling the in-situ extraction of metals using electrokinetics;
  • EnviroGold Global: Clean-technology process for metal recovery from sulphide mine tailings and smelter residues; metal recovery includes strategic, critical, base and precious metals;
  • LeadFX: Metal recovery with CO2 capture;
  • Loop Hydrometallurgy: Clean technology unlocking copper, rare earth elements and other metals from tailings and concentrates;
  • Muon Vision: Cosmic ray sensing for tailings and heap leach monitoring; and
  • Precision Periodic: Enabling industrial scale chromatography using novel filtration media to recover and concentrate elements in mining applications and treatment of wastewater.

Draslovka about to move into glycine leaching mining demonstration phase

Czech Republic-based Draslovka Holding is heading into a busy 12-month period where its glycine leaching technology will be showcased at numerous mining projects across the globe, the company told IM on the side lines of the Resourcing Tomorrow conference, in London, this week.

According to Ivor Bryan, Director of Mining Innovation at Draslovka Mining Solutions and the former MD of Mining & Process Solutions (MPS), the entity responsible for the development of the GlyCat™ and GlyLeach™ technologies, the company is embarking on around 10 projects in the mining space, which will prove up the 3,500 hours of testing that has been conducted at MPS’ facilities in Perth, Western Australia.

MPS was acquired by Draslovka, a major sodium cyanide producer in 2022, with the aim of the transaction being to grow and develop the glycine leaching business.

Gold leach testing via GlyCat has been the major area of focus over the last decade. The process was invented to reduce cyanide consumption while maintaining gold recovery for gold ores from deposits containing nuisance copper. It has been designed to enhance the dissolution of gold and copper in gold/copper ores where glycine is used as a catalyst with cyanide in a cyanide-starved leaching environment. It doesn’t replace cyanide, but, in fact, enhances its leaching capabilities by dealing with the high-cyanide consuming copper within these gold-copper orebodies.

Yet, the company is also now starting to make inroads into the base metal space through GlyLeach, with nickel and cobalt two specific areas of interest. The technology is able to leach the targeted metals with enhanced selectivity compared with conventional methods. It will solubilise copper, nickel, cobalt and zinc, while gangue minerals such as iron, manganese, silicates and carbonates remain in the leach residue, Draslovka says.

This is allowing the company to promote that it can reduce the capital expenditure associated with processing these metals by removing the need for smelting, or in the case of tailings deposits, helping recover metal from assets previously written off as ‘waste’.

While the technology could have applications at run of mine operations, Bryan and his colleague Jackson Briggs, Corporate Development Manager of Draslovka, believe the most immediate opportunity is in tailings where the application of glycine leaching on ‘waste’ material could recover valuable metals while reducing the potential liabilities associated with such storage facilities.

Of the 10 or so projects the company has ahead of it, one is situated in Western Australia where the company is looking to recover nickel and cobalt metals from a tailings deposit of a major mining company.

Another project – much closer to fruition – is in Chile and involves leaching a carbonate-hosted copper oxide deposit containing some 600 t of material.

In both cases, the company is looking to demonstrate that it can recover valuable metals at high recovery rates, with low impact – namely rationalising reagent and water use and, in the case of nickel-cobalt, removing smelting from the equation.

This, according to Draslovka CEO, Pavel Bruzek, is a “win-win” for mining companies and their stakeholders, benefitting both the balance sheet and the operational environmental footprint.

“While we are a major sodium cyanide producer, when we saw the potential of MPS’ glycine leaching technology and the increase in metallurgical complexity of orebodies looking to be exploited, it made perfect sense to work with and promote this technology,” he told IM. “It is the responsible thing to do for the industry.”

Draslovka eyes base metal leaching prize with MPS glycine technology

Draslovka Holding made its presence felt in the mining chemicals space about a year ago when it announced plans to acquire Chemours Company’s Mining Solutions business, a deal that has since seen it become one of the largest North American producers of solid sodium cyanide.

This acquisition, completed in December for $521 million, also laid the groundwork for a separate transaction that could see the Czech Republic-based company diversify into the in-demand battery metals arena.

Australia-based Mining & Process Solutions (MPS) had been on the Mining Solutions business radar for at least two years prior to the Draslovka transaction, according to James Stockbridge, Director of Draslovka Mining Solutions. Stockbridge, formerly of Chemours and DuPont, said that his team at Draslovka realised MPS had something on its books that could solve many of the challenges the industry was experiencing and transform mining solutions by using an amino acid called glycine.

“For more than a decade now, the industry has recognised that orebodies are becoming lower grade, processing them is becoming more complex and the environmental regulations associated with leaching are becoming stricter,” Stockbridge told IM.

“It is the challenge of our time, and we think MPS has something quite unique to offer here.”

With roots in the gold technology group at the renowned Curtin University in Western Australia, MPS’ glycine leaching technology has the potential to change both the gold and base metal leaching space.

In gold, MPS’ GlyCat™ process was invented to reduce cyanide consumption while maintaining gold recovery for gold ores from deposits containing nuisance copper. GlyCat has been designed to enhance the dissolution of gold and copper in gold/copper ores where glycine is used as a catalyst with cyanide in a cyanide-starved leaching environment. It doesn’t replace cyanide, but, in fact, enhances its leaching capabilities by dealing with the high-cyanide consuming copper within these gold-copper orebodies.

In copper, nickel, cobalt and zinc leaching, GlyLeach™ is able to leach the targeted metals with enhanced selectivity compared with conventional methods. It will solubilise copper, nickel, cobalt and zinc, while gangue minerals such as iron, manganese, silicates and carbonates remain in the leach residue, MPS says.

Both technologies are environmentally safe, work effectively at alkaline pHs and ambient temperatures (with no heating cost or pressure vessels) and come with low operating costs due to their low consumption and recovery/recycling traits, according to the company.

While it is the gold side of glycine leaching testing that has, so far, taken the headlines thanks to several trials with mining companies in Australia (including Evolution Mining) and the technology’s potential ability to partially replace cyanide in the leaching process, Stockbridge and his colleague Jackson Briggs (Corporate Development Manager for Draslovka) said Draslovka was most excited about what the technology could offer the base metal space.

Briggs said: “It gives us the opportunity to expand our leadership position in gold leaching agents into base metals. At the same time, it also allows us to incorporate our expertise in that chemistry and chemical manufacturing side of things.”

Stockbridge – not wanting to give away too much – hinted at how this latter opportunity could play out.

“The leaching technology will also influence the way you, for instance, operate, monitor and control the plant,” he said. “This process will be different, and we will be bringing in new technologies to cater to this.”

Considering Draslovka can produce glycine from its existing hydrogen cyanide production footprint, there is potential for a very smooth integration on the supply chain side of things.

Asked to quantify some of the benefits of the technology, Stockbridge was happy to point out GlyLeach’s potential to “simplify the flowsheet” for, say, nickel production, removing the smelting aspect and resultant ore transportation – providing capital and carbon footprint benefits.

Briggs added: “It can change a lot from ore-to-ore with GlyLeach, but, in a really strong business case, you are looking at a 25% reduction in processing costs.”

This is on top of a 10-35% improvement on the recovery side, compared with conventional leaching, Stockbridge said, citing “proof of concept” studies.

As for GlyCat, the sweet spot – as already hinted at – is in gold-copper orebodies where copper is a large cyanide consumer, with the technology allowing cyanide to work more efficiently and effectively.

Both technologies recently featured in OZ Minerals Ingenious Extraction Innovator challenge outcomes publication, while GlyCat has also been the subject of a one-off study looking at combining it with Sixth Wave Innovations’ IXOS® molecular imprinted polymer for gold extraction.

Australia’s Future Battery Industry Cooperative Research Centre, which is sponsored by the likes of Sandfire Resources, Barrick Gold, Coda Minerals (previously Gindalbie Metals) and Poseidon Nickel, is also coordinating some of the work towards commercialising GlyLeach.

There is a strong business case for both technologies first being deployed at scale on tailings deposits that have been deemed to have no associated value – a point both Stockbridge and Briggs acknowledged.

Briggs said: “In terms of accelerating the development of the technologies, there are tailings deposits and waste piles situated all over the globe with high amounts of precious and base metals that have not been extracted due to the limitations and economies associated with current processing technology. We could provide an economic way of extracting those.

“It would also provide us a project with much reduced start-up times compared with, say, a greenfield project.”

Stockbridge added: “We have carried out some work on this type of application before and believe there is the potential to extract 50% of the nickel that they couldn’t access with existing technology by using GlyLeach.”

From the mining company perspective, deploying a new technology on material already written off comes with a lot less risk too.

That is before appreciating that the material won’t have to be smelted on site, that the process produces no free cyanide and that gangue materials do not come out in solution.

It is no wonder the Draslovka duo are excited about the technology’s potential; GlyLeach in particular.

“The ability to help nickel and copper miners produce more metal to rescue some of these deposits that have been forgotten or under-developed because of technology limitations and be able to do so in a way that is more environmentally friendly is exciting.

“Potentially, this technology could help localise more electric vehicle supply chains by removing the need for smelting and providing a cost-effective and environmentally friendly means of extracting metals.

“We cannot wait to get started.”