Abstract
The BIOX® process for the treatment of refractory gold concentrates has been in commercial operation for 35 years following the commissioning of the first commercial installation at the Fairview Gold Mine in 1986. The process has been proven to operate successfully over a wide range of concentrate feed grades and mineralogies, climatic conditions, and site altitudes.
In 2020, Metso Outotec launched its novel two-stage MesoTHERM BIOX technology, a hybrid biooxidation process specifically targeting certain oxidised refractory samples which typically consume high levels of cyanide during the leaching process. Traditionally, cyanide consumption represents a significant operating cost in most gold leach circuits with conventional BIOX plants included. MesoTHERM technology application treating refractory gold samples has seen cyanide consumption reduced by up to 50% compared to mesophile BIOX products.
In 2010, Metso Outotec introduced the ASTER™ process for improved water balances in commercial BIOX applications in both arid and tropical regions. Previously, a common challenge for BIOX plants was the inability to recycle thiocyanate-containing water due to the low tolerance of the organisms. ASTER, a biological thiocyanate destruction process, produces a non-toxic solution for reuse in BIOX. Four commercial ASTER plants are in operation with the fifth ASTER plant under construction in Zimbabwe.
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van Niekerk, J.A., van Buuren, C.B., Olivier, J.W. (2023). Bioprocessing of Refractory Gold Ores: The BIOX, MesoTHERM, and ASTER Processes. 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_4
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