An Economic Evaluation of processing route options for two gold bearing feed materials: Saprolite and Artisanal Small Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) Tailings

The suggested research for the Mitacs Accelerate Program is directed to be the final step in a series of previous investigations for maximizing gold extraction from the ASGM tailings and saprolite materials, retrieved from the Eldorado Gold`s Tocantinzinho project (TZ), looking to improve its economic results. The TZ project is located in an extensive ASGM province in Brazil. ASGM is an acronym for Artisanal small scale gold mining, which is a type of mining practice that uses rudimentary procedures for extracting alluvium gold, achieving poor results, as well as damaging the environment, leaving large amounts of gold and mercury bearing tailings at their old workings. Successful completion of this research relies on laboratory testwork, as well as economic trade-off studies complying different gold processing routes and their particular implications. These investigations will define which processing approach and process plant implementation strategy will be the most beneficial to the partner in Brazil.

Faculty Supervisor:

Marcello Veiga

Student:

Guilherme W. Alves Lage

Partner:

Eldorado Gold

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Mining and quarrying

University:

University of British Columbia