An Eco-friendly Gold Leaching Reagent and An

Innovative Gold Leaching Technology for SSM

(Small Scale Mining) Gold Mine operations,

Presented to
Senegal Government

By John Guo (P. Geo. Ph D),

Geoconsulting & Technical Services
March 9, 2016
 Project Objectives
• Introduce eco-friendly gold leaching reagent to replace the
toxic cyanide and mercury in artisanal and Small Scale mining
(SSM) gold mining in Senegal,
• Introduce an effective VAT(Pool)-leaching gold mining method
to improve gold recovery,
• Training local artisanal and SSM miners how to build an
effective Pool leaching facility for gold extraction,
• Training local artisanal/SSM miners how to do gold leaching
and improve gold recovery with a simple way,
• Convert artisanal/SSM mining operations from out-of-date
operation to a green and sustainable economic activity in the
21 century .
 Significances
• Get rid of the toxic cyanide and mercury from gold
mining operations,

• Ensure a safe and eco-friendly gold mining activity in

Senegal and expend this work ethic to its neighboring
countries in west Africa,

• Significantly improve gold recovery and local workers’

family income,

• Increase Senegal’s national gold production by its own

citizens not by foreign gold mining companies.
Environmental Problems caused by
cyanide and Mercury
Dead fish in
local river
Poisoned by
leaking cyanide
solution in
Zimbabwe
 In Tanzania

In Guatemala Cattle dead after

drinking cyanide
contaminated water
Health Problem Caused by Cyanide and Mercury in Artisanal Mining
 Eco-Goldex Reagent
• 100% eco-friendly! Easier and quicker approval for project permitting!

• No environmental contamination risks, easier community acceptance and

support of your project!

• 100% replacement of cyanide in gold leaching operations!

• Simple system, same as cyanidation, No change on existing ore process

flowsheet!

• Low-toxic, treated as ordinary chemical; Simple logistics significantly

reduce your project operation costs!

• Proven success in commercial gold mine operations in China, SE Asia and

African countries.

• Unique business model minimize your project risk; Your project is under
your control!
Product web site:
Eco-goldex.com

Product user forum website:

eco-friendly-gold-leaching.com
Poor Gold Recovery Rate is a common problem in
Artisanal and SSM mining in Africa

Usually, gold recovery rate is about 40-50 %

Tailing materials usually contains Au:~1-2 g/t, many of
them as high as 10-13 g/t
Sampling in tailing materials to check Au grades
Tailing Samples are ready for assay in Lab
Tailing
Material
Assay
Results
indicate a
lot of gold
still not
recovered in
the rejects
Artisanal /SSM Gold Ore Pool Leaching Flowsheet

An Innovative Pool Leaching System can improve gold recovery rate up to 90%
 Pool Leaching Process Description
 Ores/Tailing materials are transported to process site;
 Materials are crushed (if necessary) using hammer crusher;
 Crushed materials are loaded into leaching pool with loader;
 Material is leached in pool for about 10 days; leaching
solution is cycled three times in the whole process before
discharge the material out of the pool;
 Pregnant solution is pumped into CIC; diluted solution is
pumped back to dilute solution pool for recycling.
 Gold bearing carbon will be burned and gold will be recovered
through refinery;
 Leached ores in pool are discharged by excavator and reload
new ores into the pool for next leaching process.
 Pool Leaching Advantages
• Simple system: loader, excavator, generator, water pump, Eco-
goldex reagent, activated carbon,

• Low capital investment requirement. A SSM operation needs

only about 100K-150K USD to start,

• Portable and scalable, n x1000 tonnes – 100K tonnes

materials are workable with pool leaching method,

• Safe, green and environmentally clean, easy to operate,

• Leaching solutions are in a closed system and recycled,

processed materials no de-toxic process because they contain
no contamination chemicals (actually can be used as
fertilizer).
How VAT Leaching Process
 Ore loaded in VAT

Prepare VAT

Ore discharged after

Ore in leaching
leaching is done
The most commonly used VAT leaching facilities in developing / undeveloped
countries have their innate technical drawback which causes Poor Permeability
and circulation of leaching solution and low gold leaching rate and recovery rate.
An innovative VAT leaching facility
with a special designed grid and
geometry layout significantly
improves leaching solution
permeability and circulation in the
VAT and accordingly improves gold
leaching and recovery rate by 20%
compared with what the most SSM
miners are using in the market.
Front-Loader to Load Material
into VAT
Tailing Material Re-processing Cost and Profit
Item Amount/t unit unit cost($/t)
Eco-Goldex reagent 0.6 kg/t (ore) 2.4
Fuel +Power 1.2
water 0.15 t/t 0.75
Equipment cost 1.5
Manpower cost 1.55
Administration 0.85
Refinery 1.5
contingency 2.5
total 12.25

Assume 1 tonne material with average Au grade of 3 gram and

80% recovery, Au price: 1200$/Oz, 1 tone material value is:
3*80%/31*1200$/Oz = 93$.
After deducting operation cost, 1 tone material net profit is: 80$
Pilot Project Capital Investment Budget
• Wheel Loader: 30K USD
• Excavator: 35K USD
• Truck: 25K USD
• Eco-goldex reagent: 6.5K USD
• 25KW Generator: 12K USD
• Geomembrane: 4.8K USD
• Activated Carbon: 5K USD
• Water Pump, Pipes: 5K USD
• Test agents and consumable Materials: 2K USD
______________________________________________
Total budget: 125K USD
If some of the equipment are available, the start up budget
can be further lowered to a minimum 50K USD.
 Time Table of the Pilot Project
April May June July August

Fund raising

Project partnership

Equipment lead

Site preparation

Operation

Site training

We expect to process about 5000 tonnes of tailing materials (average Au

grade 3 g/t, average recovery rate 80%, gold price 1200$/Oz), and the total
revenue will be: 460K USD.
The 5000 tonnes of material process time will be about 65 days.
 Project Partners
• Mine Department of Senegal government
• Geoconsulting and Technical Services (GTS)
• UN Senegal Office, UN Development Program(possible
fund source