Leaching gold with cassava: An option to eliminate mercury use in artisanal gold mining.
Updated: Apr 5, 2022
| Journal of Cleaner Production | Volume 311, 15 August 2021, 127531 |
| P. Torkamana, M. M. Veiga, L. R. P. de Andrade Lima,
L .A. Oliveirac, J.S.Mottac, J. L. Jesusc, L. M. Lavkulichd. |
Mercury pollution from artisanal gold mining causes severe environmental and health problems, especially to operators and people living around the processing facilities.
Over 2000 tonnes/a of mercury is released to the environment by the artisanal miners which is the largest man-made source of mercury pollution.
Here we present a novel method using a local plant, cassava, common in many artisanal mining areas in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, to dissolve gold from ores.
In our experiments, we used a liquid by-product of cassava flour manufacturing, “manipueira” to leach gold from the gold ore.
"Bitter cassava has been sustaining millions of people in the world who produce flour. The symbiosis of artisanal flour producers with artisanal gold miners can be a win-win solution to reduce pollution from both sides."
It’s everywhere: in the rain, snow, our food, our waters, even in the human placenta! Mercury is poisoning life on Earth.
ARE YOU AWARE Artisanal miners' gold ore processing produces 20% of the world's supply of gold used in our jewellery, iPad’s, iPhone, computers, and other electronics devices and is the world's largest anthropogenic source of deadly mercury pollution overtaking coal fired plants mercury emissions in 2017?
Artisanal miners' ore processing uses mercury, a deadly neurotoxin and precursor to an even deadlier neurotoxin Methylmercury @ 100 times more potent than elemental mercury to extract liberated gold from crushed or milled ore by forming an amalgam which is vaporized leaving the gold while releasing ~1,200 tonnes of mercury to our atmosphere annually .
Mercury pollution is documented in 2021 by Oxford University earth scientists to stay airborne up to one year then precipitates back to Earth in the form of rain and snow.
The morbid irony lies in the fact the same vaporized mercury is polluting the air we all breathe, contaminating our drinking water, polluting the Oceans we swim, poisoning the fish we consume especially tuna where mercury bioaccumulates the most causing health issues, and global biodiversity destruction.
But finally there's hope!
Visit our Corporate site to learn what we’re doing about artisanal miners’ ore processing in Zaruma Ecuador and see how your impact investment capital will mitigate decades of ongoing human and child in utero health threats, local and global biodiversity destruction, and deadly toxic mercury pollution.
An "innovation provider with a scalable climate action initiative to eliminate mercury used by artisanal miners processing ore to extract gold”
Bruce A. Cosgrove, M.Sc., (Solution Chemistry) President/CEO
Profit proudly owning sustainably reclaimed tailings gold, a globally wasted commodity
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