Abstract
Bioprocessing of refractory gold-bearing sulfides is represented in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) by two technologies: BIOX® and BIONORD®. This chapter focuses on the Suzdal mine in Kazakhstan owned by Nordgold and the Olimpiada mine in Russia owned by Polyus. The Suzdal mining operation is amongst the most technologically advanced of the Nordgold operations. It currently utilises three Outotec-licensed processes: the Bacterial Oxidation (BIOX™) process for the liberation of sulfide-entrained refractory gold, the Activated Sludge Tailings Effluent Remediation (ASTER™) process for the destruction of thiocyanate, and the High Temperature Caustic Conditioning (HiTeCC™) process for the reduction of gold losses due to preg-robbing. Suzdal is the first BIOX plant that operates at sub-zero ambient temperatures and has the second ASTER and HiTeCC implementations worldwide. Polyus is the largest gold producer in Russia, while the first industrial process for the biooxidation of refractory gold-bearing ores in Russia, BIONORD, was launched at the Olimpiada Gold mine in 2001. In subsequent years, three more plants were put into operation at the site: BIO-2, BIO-3, BIO-4. After commissioning the BIO-4 in October 2017, the total throughput capacity of the BIO plants grew to 1500 tonnes per day (t d−1). The oxidation of sulfide flotation concentrates reached 90% and increased gold recovery to 94%. This helped the production of over 30 t of gold in 2019 using the BIONORD process.
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Notes
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Nitrogen–phosphorus concentrated soluble fertiliser, containing approximately 10–12% N and 52% P2О5 mainly composed of monoammonium phosphate (NH4H2PO4) and partly of diammonium phosphate ((NH4)2HPO4).
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Belyi, A.V., Tupikina, O.V. (2023). Biooxidation of Gold Ores in Russia and Kazakhstan. In: Johnson, D.B., Bryan, C.G., Schlömann, M., Roberto, F.F. (eds) Biomining Technologies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05382-5_11
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