Kevin Fell, Group CEO of Clean Earth Technologies, was quoted by Mining Review Africa on the industry-changing solutions being advanced by the company. The article, which was published on 11 September 2020, can be accessed via this link. The following is a reproduced summary of the article.
Lethal cyanide and dangerous tailings dams could soon be a thing of the past for miners based on Clean Earth Technologies’ outstanding gold recovery rates. Test work conducted by Clean Earth Technologies returned an average 80-85% of gold from ore samples supplied by ASX-listed Genesis Resources’ Plavica gold mine in North Macedonia. These tests were completed at the CSIRO laboratories in Perth and most of the gold was recovered within the first four hours.
The rapid extraction process replaces conventional cyanide with a non-toxic reagent that dissolves fine gold out of ores. This process was named ‘best metallurgical innovation’ in the prestigious 2019 international Mining Magazine Awards. The solution has successfully undergone field trials at a pilot plant in Menzies WA, operated by Western Australian company Clean Mining, which is part of the Clean Earth Technologies group.
Clean Earth Technologies Group CEO Kevin Fell said that the outstanding test results challenged the misconception that environmentally-friendly processes were more costly or less efficient.
“We are very pleased with the results [as it] further validates the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the process. This is a win for people and the environment, as well as for resource owners around the world. We have been working hard to make it possible for miners to extract gold in a safe, sustainable, and financially viable way. The need is becoming critical as more countries ban cyanide, and we are seeing more disasters as aging tailings dams fail and spill noxious waste into the environment,” said Kevin Fell.
In most cases, the rapid extraction process produced similar results to cyanide and is no more expensive than that toxic chemical when one compares the end-to-end processes.
“When you combine Clean Mining’s recovery and dewatering solutions, you can significantly reduce the mining footprint and avoid the risk by replacing massive tailings dams with dry-stack tailings that can be safely stored and re-processed,” added Kevin Fell.
Further tests on ore from the Plavica project are planned as Clean Earth Technologies continues to introduce its clean alternative to mining operators all over the world.
