Mining of Gold has been making great strides when it comes to revamping its ethical image and there is irrefutable proof that good environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) are not only the right thing to do, they are good for business.
The sharemarket is rewarding those that set high standards. Investors are favouring operators that use clean, green practices to de-risk, avoiding any threat of environmental lawsuits, community unrest and the reputational damage that can dismantle the industry’s social licence to operate.
Consumers are increasingly interested in the source of products they buy and are backing those that use ethical standards in production. Mining products, and gold in particular, are no exception. The World Gold Council and International Council on Mining and Minerals (ICMM) took the bull by the horns when they endorsed the Responsible Gold Mining Principles, in 2019. The framework articulates clear expectations for consumers, investors and the downstream gold supply chain as to what constitutes responsible gold mining.
But while the framework sets an important standard for the industry, it only tinkers around the edges of the industry’s biggest problems – how to eliminate toxic chemicals from the extraction process and what to do with noxious tailings waste.
Clean Mining, part of the Clean Earth Technologies Group, is one of the first companies in the world to develop an effective and commercially viable solution.
Across the globe, 90 per cent of the world’s gold extraction processes use toxic cyanide and some still use dangerous mercury. The Clean Mining’s owned, award winning proprietary process eliminates both, using a non-toxic, non-flammable and water-soluble, inorganic compound which includes thiosulphate to dissolve gold out of ores.
After a decade in development, the Clean Mining, CSIRO invented process has been tested on over 50 different ore sources from mines worldwide and gold recovery rates have matched the most efficient traditional cyanide techniques.
Tests conducted by Australia’s national scientific agency, the CSIRO, show the “clean gold� process is effective and efficient, returning in the majority a range between 85-95% of gold recovery with fast leaching kinetics.
But the real advantage of Clean Mining’s eco-friendly rapid extraction process is the fact that it eliminates hazardous tailings. Used in conjunction with de-watering techniques, the reagent can be recycled helping to drive down costs, improve safety and establishing a new benchmark for environmental sustainability in gold mining operations that will pay dividends.
Clean mining doesn’t have to cost the earth. Find out more.
