Tag Archives: glycine leaching

Draslovka goes commercial with GlyCat leaching at Barrick’s Buylanhulu

Environmental, Mine operation news, Mineral processing, Precious metals, Sustainable mining, , , , , , ,

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.”

Bayan Airag Exploration achieves world first with Draslovka’s glycine leaching tech

Environmental, Metallurgy, Mining services, Precious metals, Water management, , , , , , ,

Draslovka a.s., a specialty chemicals company, has executed a user license with Bayan Airag Exploration LLC in Mongolia for the world’s first application of its proprietary glycine gold leaching process, GlyCat™, in a commercial heap leaching application.

Application of the technology has commenced to extract gold from ores mined from its Golden Hills and Limestone Ridge pits.

The decision to fully implement the technology on its heap leach operations was made following site-based testing and culminating in a 1,000-tonne trial heap leach, according to Draslovka. The collaboration involved staff from Draslovka’s Perth-based mining innovation centre and Bayan Airag site-based staff.

The recent heap leach trial demonstrated higher recoveries than conventional cyanidation, with 78% overall gold recovery, the company said. This was achieved with a 65% reduction in cyanide and high recyclability of the glycine. Overall, due to high cyanide unit costs, the total reagent costs are projected to be reduced by over 70%.

The Bayan Airag mines are located in a part of Mongolia where temperatures are regularly sub-zero, making the trial and forward commercial application of the technology of interest to other cold climate applications globally.

Ivor Bryan, Chief Technology Officer of Draslovka Mining Solutions, said: “GlyCat’s use in heap leaching applications demonstrates equivalent or better recoveries and step change reduction in operating costs. This provides opportunities for our clients to extend mine life and convert uneconomic ores and wastes into viable metal production opportunities.

“We look forward to expanding our strong relationship with Bayan Airag as it considers other projects in its area of operations and as a foundation for further applications in Mongolia.”

Peter Thompson, Chief Executive Officer of Bayan Airag, added: “At Bayan Airag where we often have challenges in cyanide supply and costs, we saw the GlyCat process as an opportunity to reduce our reliance on cyanide and to use a much more eco-friendly alternative that provides sustainability to our Mongolian business and improved outcomes to the community in which we work. It also gives us an advantage for when we encounter high levels of copper in our gold-silver ore.

“We are proud that the Bayan Airag mine is the first mine in Mongolia to use GlyCat and the first instance of commercial implementation of GlyCat in a heap leach anywhere in the world.”

Sixth Wave and MPS team up to cut cyanide usage, costs in gold processing

Environmental, Metallurgy, Mineral processing, Precious metals, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sixth Wave Innovations says it is working with Australia-based Mining and Process Solutions (MPS) on test work initiatives in North America and Australia integrating Sixth Wave’s commercially available IXOS® molecular imprinted polymer for gold extraction with the MPS GlyCat™ process.

The GlyCat process was invented to reduce cyanide consumption while maintaining gold recovery for gold ores from deposits containing nuisance copper. For gold applications, the IXOS platform, meanwhile, is capable of selectively targeting gold while rejecting contaminants such as copper, mercury, and other non-target elements potentially contained in a gold-bearing cyanide leach solution.

The two companies are also working in collaboration with the Centre Technologique des Résidus Industriels (CTRI) and a top 10 gold producer in Canada. This project aims to develop an environmentally-friendly flowsheet for the gold mining industry, examining MPS’ acidic and alkaline leaching technologies, together with Sixth Wave’s molecular imprinted IXOS resin technology for the extraction of gold from alternative lixiviants. Testing is to be undertaken on ores provided by the Canadian mining partner, Sixth Wave said.

A recent study published in the Hydrometallurgy Journal titled ‘Gold recovery from cyanide-starved glycine solutions (Glycat) in the presence of Cu using molecularly imprinted polymer IXOS-AuC’ found that “gold recovery increased, while copper recovery decreased with the increasing gold concentration”, Sixth Wave said. The adsorption behaviour of IXOS-AuC had “the best selectivity compared to three other gold selective resins”, the study added. Other outcomes from the study showed the IXOS-AuC polymer was very robust, allowing reuse without deterioration of the polymer physically (assessed by scanning electron microscopy) or in performance.

“Our collaboration with MPS is an important initiative for Sixth Wave and our IXOS high performance gold extraction products,” Dr Jon Gluckman, President & CEO of Sixth Wave, said. “The industry is keenly interested in new and innovative approaches to leach and recover gold as a replacement, in whole or in part, for conventional processes. In order to focus on lowering capital expenditure and operating expenditure, and to comply with environmental and regulatory constraints, Sixth Wave is extremely interested in leveraging our technology with the benefits of the MPS glycine leaching and recovery process.”

Ivor Bryan, Managing Director of MPS, said: “Our respective technological approaches can bring tremendous value to prospective customers by significantly cutting cyanide usage along with the associated costs and environmental impact.”

Earlier this week, Sixth Wave Innovations signed a non-binding Letter of Intent to trial its IXOS purification polymer at the Rio2 Ltd-owned Fenix gold project in Chile.