Cyanide Leaching

Dissolving gold and silver in a dilute cyanide solution — the standard extraction chemistry for over a century.

Definition

A process that uses cyanide solution to dissolve gold from ore. The gold is then recovered from solution through adsorption on activated carbon or zinc precipitation. This is the most common method for gold extraction worldwide.

Why it matters

Practically every gold project assumes it, so the interesting question is whether the ore responds. Free-milling ore leaches readily; refractory ore does not, and the difference is millions in extra capital.

In practice

Cyanide use drives much of a project's permitting and community risk, and is banned outright in some jurisdictions. That is a jurisdictional question as much as a technical one.

See also

  • Heap Leaching An industrial mining process used to extract precious metals from ore by placing crushed ore in large heaps an
  • Carbon-in-Pulp (CIP) A process for recovering gold from cyanide leach solutions using activated carbon to adsorb gold. The carbon i
  • Metallurgical Recovery The percentage of valuable metal that can be extracted from ore during processing. For example, 90% gold recov
  • Tailings The waste material left over after ore has been processed to extract valuable minerals. Tailings are typically

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