Cyanide has been widely used as an essential raw material in several industries including textile, plastics, paints, photography, electroplating, agriculture, food, medicine and mining/metallurgy. Because of its high affinity for gold and silver, cyanide is able to selectively leach these metals from ores. Cyanide and cyanide compounds in …

The debate surrounding the use of cyanide in the mining industry has fuelled considerable investigation into the development of more environmentally benign alternatives. For over 100 years, cyanide has featured prominently as a leach reagent at gold mines because of its high efficiency and relatively low cost.

In this account, we review the history of cyanide use in gold mining with emphasis on heap leach gold mining, cyanide hazards to plants and animals, water management issues associated with gold mining, and proposed mitigation and research needs. Download to read the full chapter text.

The use of low-cost cyanide heap leaching techniques to recover metal from ores has allowed miners to profitably extract gold deposits. The chemical compound has on occasion been mishandled, and in some locations releases have created environmental problems. However, worldwide, the mining industry has shown it can work with cyanide responsibly.

Here are 23 facts and statistics about the use of mercury and cyanide in gold mining and how these toxic chemicals are impacting the environment and public health.

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is the leading global source of anthropogenic mercury (Hg) release to the environment. Top-down mercury reduction …

In this account, we review the history of cyanide use in gold mining with emphasis on heap leach gold mining, cyanide hazards to plants and animals, water …

Abstract. Cyanide extraction of gold through milling of high-grade ores and heap leaching of low-grade ores requires cycling of millions of liters of alkaline water containing high concentrations of potentially toxic sodium cyanide (NaCN), free cyanide, and metal-cyanide complexes. Some milling operations result in tailings ponds of 150 ha and ...

The family of chemicals containing "cyanide", a combination of carbon and nitrogen, has been used safely and effectively for over 130 years for the efficient extraction and …

Transitional dynamics from mercury to cyanide-based processing in artisanal and small-scale gold mining: Social, economic, geochemical, and environmental considerations

As the use of cyanide becomes more prevalent in the artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector worldwide, there is an urgent need to provide miners, government regulators and other stakeholders with practical information to support safer cyanide use and management, where its use in ASGM is legally allowed.

Considering that TGM has significant differences in the use of cyanide and mercury during gold processing in different exploitation areas [3], we established a model wastewater solution based on ...

The International Cyanide Management Code was developed to improve the management of cyanide at gold mines. Spills and other incidents involving cyanide solutions at gold mines such as the January 2000 incident at a Romanian gold mine (Baia Mare) demonstrated to the gold mining industry, governments, and the public that …

The disposal of mining wastes that contain cyanide are dumped in tailings from gold extraction is a public concern in mining countries such as South Africa. Many studies have shown the potential of microorganisms to degrade cyanide.

Cyanide is a chemical group consisting of carbon and nitrogen. Cyanide compounds, such as hydrogen cyanide gas and the simple cyanide salts (sodium cyanide and potassium …

Today, there are important indications that artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is on the verge of a similar cyanide revolution: while ASGM is typically …

After several high-profile leaks and spills, the use of cyanide in mining operations is facing increasing public opposition with some countries banning it completely. The toxic chemical is still widely used for the processing of certain ores, most notably gold, but should cyanide be phased out of mining, and what are the alternatives?

The cyanide process of gold recovery enabled a higher percentage of gold and silver to be extracted from hard rock, making many operations viable that would otherwise have had to close. The world class Martha Mine has a history spanning three centuries. Together with its historic use up to 1952, the Waihi mining operations have used cyanide since modern …

The Mining Verification Protocol and this Mining Guidance for its use apply to the management of cyanide at gold and silver mining operations. As defined in the ode's Definitions and Acronyms document, "gold and silver mining" means an "activity using cyanide to leach gold

Highly toxic sodium cyanide (NaCN) is used by the international mining community to extract gold and other precious metals through milling of high-grade ores and heap leaching of low-grade ores (Korte et al. 2000). The process to concentrate gold using cyanide was developed in Scotland in 1887 and was used almost immediately in the …

Sodium cyanide (NaCN; CAS RN 143-33-9) is used mainly as an extraction agent for precious metals (for example, gold, silver) and to a lesser degree for base metals, and as a result, free cyanide and precursors of free cyanide may be released in the effluent of metal mining facilities that use it.

The "International Cyanide Management Code For the Manufacture, Transport, and Use of Cyanide In the Production of Gold" (Cyanide Code) is a voluntary, performance driven, …

The "International Cyanide Management Code For the Manufacture, Transport, and Use of Cyanide In the Production of Gold" (Cyanide Code) is a voluntary, performance driven, certification program of best practices for gold and silver mining companies and the companies producing and transporting cyanide used in gold and silver mining. This …

The proposed technology for mining gold is cyanide leaching, a procedure that implies the dislocation of the rock bearing gold, the ore and its treatment with sodium cyanide acting as a magnate attracting the precious metal.

A sodium cyanide solution is commonly used to leach gold from ore. There are two types of leaching: 1. Heap leaching: In the open, cyanide solution is sprayed over huge heaps of crushed ore spread atop giant collection pads. The cyanide dissolves the gold from the ore into the solution as …

The objective of the Cyanide Code is to improve the management of cyanide used in gold and silver mining and to enhance protection of human health and the reduction of environmental impacts from inadvertent releases or exposures to the chemical. Based on Principles and Standards of Practice, the Cyanide Code provides a management …

At Newmont, safe and responsible cyanide management is fundamental to our operations. Cyanide is used in the mining process to dissolve and separate gold from ore.

As created, the Cyanide Code is a voluntary industry program focusing on the safe and environmentally sound production, transport, and use of cyanide by the gold mining industry. Through its nine principles and 31 standards of practice, the Cyanide Code sets out auditable expectations for management of cyanide in relation to worker …

Since its advent at the end of the nineteenth century, cyanide processing facilitated the intensification and global expansion of industrial gold mining. Today, there are important indications that artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is on the verge of a similar cyanide revolution: while ASGM is typically associated with mercury …

The first recorded use of cyanide to extract gold from ores was in 1889 at the Crown Mine in New Zealand ( Dorr, 1936 ). The procedure, in which the gold was dissolved by a dilute cyanide solution, was one of the first applications of hydrometallurgy. The implementation of cyanide techniques represented a major advance for the gold …