Agro-mining for Gold

M. SUNDAR RAJ
PROJECT HEAD – EXPLORATION
ALPHA CENTAURI MINING SA, LIBREVILLE, GABON
Agromining - Introduction

 Extraction of gold from the soil by using hyperaccumulator plants i.e.,

plants that can extract gold.
 This is also called as ‘Phtyomining’.
Agromining - Introduction

 Plants called hyper-accumulators absorb metals in soil through

their root system and accumulate them in their leaves and upper
organs. The ability of these plants to absorb metals can be used in
two ways.
 One is phyto-mining in which hyper-accumulators are grown on a
substrate having sufficient metal concentration and then
harvested and processed to extract the metals. Processing
involves burning the plants after harvest to create ash (“bio-ore”)
from which the metal is recovered by smelting or by application of
reagents. Energy can be recovered from the burning.
 The other process is phyto-remediation in which metals in
contaminated soils are absorbed into plants that are then
harvested and either stored in secure sites or processed to
produce pure metals
Agromining – The Science behind

 The key variable necessary for the uptake of gold by plants is formation of
a stable, soluble, gold-ligand complex within the soil solution.
 If such a complex is formed, it seems likely that a plant will have little
choice but to act as a pump and accumulate the metal during
transpiration, to a concentration that is proportional to the total gold
concentration in the soil.
 Problematic is the fact that gold will only form soluble and stable
complexes for a narrow range of pH and redox (Eh) parameters that
change as a function of the specific ligand used (Anderson, 2005).
Agromining – other minerals
Why is it pathbreaking?

 It allows to mine low grade ore in new areas or in the existing area where
ore grades are coming down.
 It allows to extract gold from the waste of the existing mining site.
 Very helpful to overcome socio-economic problem as it certainly not
irradicate huge vegetations.
Required suitable factors:

 Rainfall - High precipitation required, mainly suitable for tropical climate.

Hydrology, soil moisture and plant transpiration rates are quintessential.
 pH factor - 8.9-9.5 is the most favorable range of soil pH that supports Agro
gold mining.
 Rich biodiversity - it is very important and transpiration rate should be high
to promote phytoextraction i.e., extraction of multiple elements. For
instance, Au and Hg extraction consecutively.
Suitable plants for Gold extraction

 Brassica juncea (Indian mustard), Iberis intermedia and Biscutella laevigata

(Brassicaceae) are the important plants that are used for extraction of Gold.
 The other suitable plants are Paspalum Conjugatum1 (carabao grass or hilo
grass), Lindernia crustacea2 (Malaysian false pimpernel), Digitaria radicosa3
(crabgrass, finger-grass, and fonio), and Cyperus kylingia4 (Nut grass).
 Tobacco plant is used extensively in Indonesia to carry out gold Agromining as
there were no indigenous species capable of phytoextraction.

1 2 3 4
List of chemicals used in Gold Agromining:
Study under green house conditions:
Bio-mass processing:

 Method holds attractiveness as bio-ore has less contamination than the

conventional ore.
 It contains no sulphides which negates the risk of Sulphur contamination
and acid rain.
 Conclusive process for processing gold bio-ore is yet to be perfected but
there are several methods that worked in Indonesia. Those are as follows:
 Composting
 Combustion
 Gasification or hydrometallurgy
Bio-mass processing:
Case study -1

 During 2003, the first field trial for gold phytoextraction from mine tailings
was conducted using sodium cyanide and ammonium thiocyanate as
chemicals to induce gold hyperaccumulation (Anderson et al., 2005).
 In this work B. juncea and Z. mays were used to recover gold from rock
with a gold concentration of 0.6 mg/kg. The pH range in soils was 8.9-9.5.
 The results showed that from this gold concentration in soil it is possible to
achieve an average gold concentration of up to 39 mg/kg of dry matter
in Indian mustard under field conditions.
 This trial suggested that potentially between 10 and 20% of the total gold
present in the plant root zone can be removed in any one crop.
Case study -2

 Towards the end of 2006, researchers at the Centro de Innovacion y Desarrollo

Educativo (CIDE A.C.) conducted field trials in Mexico where plants of B.
juncea were cultivated in mine tailings with a gold concentration of 2.47
mg/kg and a pH of 7.6.
 The results showed that it was possible to obtain commercial-scale biomass
yields in excess of 8 ton/ha under field conditions (Wilson-Corral, 2008).
 Then, in 2009, a field trial was conducted to establish the potential of the
species H. annuus to recover gold from mine tailings.
 A plot of 50 m2 was constructed. The average gold concentrations for leaves,
stems, and roots, were 16, 21, and 15 mg/kg of dry mater, respectively after
cyanide treatment of the mature biomass (Wilson-Corral et al., 2011).
Case study -3 (Indian site)

 A case study for the phytomining of historic gold mine wastes in India was published
during 2005. The subject of this report was the development of phytomining at the Kolar
Gold Fields (KGF) in Karnataka, locally known as Bangarapet (city of gold). This area was
once considered to be the premier gold mining area in India and was operated by the
Bharath Gold Mines Limited (BGML). The mines have a recorded history of nearly 200
years of operation.
 Studies have shown that there are about 33 million tons of tailings that have been
accumulated over the years which maybe a source of 24 tons of gold (Mohan, 2005).
 According to the author of the Indian report, phytomining could prove to be a novel
and cost-effective technology to extract gold from these tailings and also from low-
grade ore in the area (grade less than 3 g/t). Phytomining in this area would revitalize the
mining sector, creating employment, revenue, and opportunities for new technology
development.
Economic Assessment

 The first economic assessment of the returns that might be realized from gold
phytomining was published by scientists from Massey University (Anderson et
al., 1998). In 2003, an economic model for gold phytomining was proposed by
Anderson and colleagues. Costs were broken into three categories:
a. the costs of growing the biomass,
b. the costs of chemical used to induce uptake of gold and
c. the costs of recovery of gold from the biomass.

 The modelled costs showed that the final economic yield (gross profit) could
be $USD 6437/ha if the gold recovery from plant tissues is based on the use of
conventional solvent extraction, considered as the most viable processing
technology.
Economic Assessment

 Scientists at the University of Sydney have evaluated the technical

feasibility and the economic viability of nickel and gold phytomining in
Australia. In this work possible sites were identified and plant species most
suited to these regions and methods of recovering the metals from the
plants were suggested. The indicative profitability for a Ni phytomining
operation in Australia was predicted to be 11,500 AU$/ha/harvest, using
the hyperaccumulator B. coddii on nickel-rich serpentine soils and with
energy generation from harvested biomass.
 For gold, a profit of 26,000 AU$/ha/harvest was predicted using induced
accumulation (with thiocyanate) with a crop of B. juncea coupled with
energy generation from the harvested biomass (Harris et al., 2009).
Economic Assessment
Economic Assessment

 The general target for a gold phytomining operation is to yield 0.5 kg of gold from
ever hectare (unit area) of operation. This gold yield is possible through harvesting 5
t/ha of dry biomass containing an average gold concentration of 100 mg/kg (this
unit is the same as g/t).
 At a gold price of US$ 1,500 an ounce, 0.5 kg of gold is worth US$ 24,113. The
modelled costs to grow, tend, treat, and process 5 tonnes of plant material are
approximately US$15,000.
 This generates a gross profit of just over US$ 9,000 per hectare. Increased biomass
per hectare will lead to an increased yield of gold and increased gross profit.
 An average gold concentration in the biomass above or below 100 mg/kg will also
change the expected gross profit. (Krisnayanti and Anderson, 2014).
Challenges:

 Potential species identification

 They should be environment resistant, adaptable to injecting fluids, metal
accumulation rate, amount of biomass and growth rate.
 For example, Tobacco, Zea mays, sunflower, and casava leaves have been used.

 Development of effective cultivation method

 Development of biomass processing technology
 Economic analysis of Au Agromining as it is marginally economic.
 No plants of high biomass will grow well at low pH and thus it would not be
practical to phytoextract gold from an area of auriferous material with a pH of
less than 4.
“
Thank you

A JOURNEY OF A THOUSAND MILES BEGINS WITH A SINGLE STEP

- CHINESE PROVERB
”