I took the liberty of emailing Mr. Ryan Jackson seeking clarification of the statements made by the poster Newloxlurker's in his October 28th post titled:
Update: Newlok Gold admits to toxic cyanide use
Below is the answer I received:
Sorry for the delay in this response. The Company has reviewed the posts on social media and prepared an official response.
Newlox Gold’s mission is to improve the economic, environmental, and social circumstances of its local mining partners and all stakeholders. In keeping with this mission, the company has partnered with local artisanal miners to undertake remediation of historical tailings and prevent further local environmental contamination by providing access to clean, modern gold recovery technology. Newlox Gold’s mission is highly focused on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) best practices and performance.
The processing plant is fully permitted and currently uses gravity concentration and flotation for primary recovery and intensive leaching for beneficiation. Gold leaching uses cyanide during the process and is a proven technology that has been used for decades as an environmentally positive alternative to mercury amalgamation for gold recovery.
Cyanide is currently the global standard reagent for gold recovery and is used by nearly all responsible companies because when used correctly, it results in effective precious metals recovery and no environmental damage. The cyanide is broken down into nontoxic components and is not released into the environment. Gold leaching is a clean production technology that has been adopted by nearly all responsible mining groups worldwide.
Costa Rica banned open pit mining a number of years ago and stated it would not be issuing any new licenses for large mines. However, numerous local artisanal groups continue to mine and their permits, and ours, are in good standing. The policy shift represents a move towards supporting local businesses in traditional industries and away from large-scale multinational miners.
Newlox Gold has developed a strong local relationship with the community and is welcome because the Company works with local mining groups to improve their economic, social, and environmental circumstances. The local miners have been forced to use mercury because they have limited access to modern equipment or engineering. Now, partnering with Newlox is empowering the local miners to continue their traditional industry without the environmental harm caused by mercury amalgamation.
Newlox is also developing proprietary OAR (organic aqua regia) technology as an alternative to traditional reagents in the mining industry. The Company reported successful Stage 1 development of OAR and is now conducting Stage 2 R&D. If development continues to be successful, Newlox plans to deploy OAR technology at its processing sites, which will serve as demonstration plants for marketing the technology to third parties.
Ryan Jackson
President & CEO
Newlox Gold Ventures Corp.
T: +1 778 738 0546
F: +1 604 757 2346
E: ryan@newloxgold.com