Biomining is the use of microorganisms to extract metals from sulfide and/or iron-containing ores and mineral concentrates. The iron and sulfide is microbially oxidized to produce ferric iron and sulfuric acid, and these chemicals convert the insoluble sulfides of metals such as copper, nickel and zinc to soluble metal sulfates that can be readily recovered from solution. Although gold is inert...

At the Bonfim mine, cyanide processing used to extract gold from abandoned tailings represents an important environmental concern. In order to evaluate cyanide concentrations, twenty samples of sediments of the main streams crossing the mine site, and ten samples of the five mainly tailings were analyzed for total cyanide. Cyanide was found in two samples of tailings (0.83 and 1.44mg/Kg of tota...

Abstract The Baiyun gold deposits in the Qingchengzi ore concentration area have significant deep exploration potential. Transient electromagnetic (TEM) is conducted to identify ore-bearing strata and ore-controlling structures mining area’s periphery. Previous tests revealed that it challenging penetrate conductive layer obtain information using a conventional in-loop TEM method with an induct...

The goal of this paper is a first attempt to link the geology and mineral deposits of the Gondwana GIS, called GO-GEOID, to spatial statistics and map modelling. Such integration allows, for example, meaningful identification of the mineral potential of unexplored regions relative to those around them that are known to host major ore deposits. We use gold and tin deposits of Africa to derive pr...

A Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) was assembled for gold production extending from the formation of gold-ore deposits through the production of semi-refined gold-silver bullion. Inputs traditionally considered in life cycle assessment (LCA) such as energy, materials, and capital were counted along with geologic inputs and labor. Emergy, rather than traditional LCA methods, was used to make inventory...

The Iron Mountain Mine Superfund Site near Redding, California, is a massive sulfide ore deposit that was mined for iron, silver, gold, copper, zinc, and pyrite intermittently for nearly 100 years. As a result, both water and air reached the sulfide deposits deep within the mountain, producing acid mine drainage consisting of sulfuric acid and heavy metals from the ore. Particularly, the draina...

The Norilsk ore district is one of the world leaders in production platinum metals. Long-term research focused on detection sulfide platinum-copper-nickel ores contributed to accumulation a large volume scientific material geology and mineralization area. Despite this, issue composition initial melt for ore-bearing intrusive complexes its degree enrichment with noble metals remains open. Intrus...

The Hirvilavanmaa (Au-only) and Naakenavaara (Cu-Co-Au-Ni) deposits, located only 5 km apart in the Paleoproterozoic Central Lapland belt (CLB) northern Finland, represent two types of orogenic gold mineralization that dominate CLB: (1) Au-only (2) Au with atypical metal association, respectively. In this study, we compare these deposits order to pinpoint origin differences their associations. ...