Cheaper gold production
Sixth Wave, MPS begin testing IXOS, GlyCat
2020-09-17 11:27 ET - News Release
Mr. Jon Gluckman reports
SIXTH WAVE INNOVATIONS ANNOUNCES COLLABORATIVE "GREEN" TEST INITIATIVES WITH MINING AND PROCESS SOLUTIONS (AUSTRALIA)
Sixth Wave Innovations Inc. is working with Mining and Process Solutions (MPS) on test work initiatives in North America and Australia that are utilizing Sixth Wave's commercially available IXOS molecular imprinted polymer for gold extraction and the MPS GlyCat process. The GlyCat process was invented to reduce cyanide consumption while maintaining gold recovery for gold ores from deposits which contain nuisance copper.
The two companies are also working in collaboration with the Centre Technologique des Residus Industriels ("CTRI"), and a major top 10 gold producer in Canada. The project aims to develop an environmentally friendly flow sheet for the gold mining industry. It will examine MPS' acidic and alkaline leaching technologies together with Sixth Wave's molecular imprinted IXOStrademark resin technology for the extraction of gold from alternative lixiviants. Testing is to be undertaken on ores provided by the Canadian mining partner.
A recent study published in the Hydrometallurgy Journal titled (Gold recovery from cyanide-starved glycine solutions (Glycat) in the presence of Cu using molecularly imprinted polymer IXOS-AuC) found that "gold recovery increased, while copper recovery decreased with the increasing gold concentration.' The adsorption behavior of IXOS -AuC had "the best selectivity compared to three other gold selective resins". Other outcomes from the study showed that the IXOS-AuC polymer was very robust allowing reuse without deterioration of the polymer physically (assessed by scanning electron microscopy) or in performance.
"Our collaboration with MPS is an important initiative for Sixth Wave and our IXOS high performance gold extraction products," said Dr. Jon Gluckman, President & CEO of Sixth Wave. "The industry is keenly interested in new and innovative approaches to leach and recover gold as a replacement, in whole or in part, for conventional processes. In order to focus on lowering CAPEX and OPEX, and to comply with environmental and regulatory constraints, Sixth Wave is extremely interested in leveraging our technology with the benefits of the MPS glycine leaching and recovery process."
"We are very pleased to be in collaboration with Sixth Wave," states Mr. Ivor Bryan, Managing Director of MPS. "Our respective technological approaches can bring tremendous value to prospective customers by significantly cutting cyanide usage along with the associated costs and environmental impact."