Gold-leaching glycine to be tested

Czech-based specialty chemicals company Draslovka has reached an agreement to roll out a global testing and implementation programme for GlyCat, its glycine-based gold-leaching product, in several of the mines run by Barrick Gold. This is the first such trial and could lead to a global rollout.

According to Draslovska, using GlyCat, a non-toxic, food-grade and recyclable reagent, “can potentially unlock substantive savings and generate value for Barrick’s operations, while improving environmental footprint”. Depending on the ore, these could include:

* A 20-80% reduction in cyanide usage, while reducing or entirely eliminating cyanide detoxification requirements

* Higher recoveries at a time when gold and copper discoveries have been in steady decline

* An average 25% and up to 50% reduction in processing costs