The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Metal Tech News - September 11, 2024
Innovation has improved its proprietary water-based formula for leaching gold from low-grade ore.
Innovation's small-scale Tallapoosa gold mine in Georgia.
Innovation Mining recently passed a major milestone on its path to providing global mining companies with a cost-effective and environmentally preferred alternative to cyanide for gold recovery.
For more than 130 years, cyanide has provided an inexpensive and effective means of extracting gold from ore. A chemical compound of carbon and nitrogen, cyanide dissolves gold into a solution from which the precious metal can be recovered. The downside is cyanide is toxic and, if not handled properly, poses a danger to people and the environment.
While cyanide is biodegradable, and mines around the world have shown that cyanide leaching of gold can be safe if used appropriately, the recent collapse of a heap leach pad at the Eagle Mine in Canada's Yukon is an example of the hazards of cyanide when there is a breach in containment.
The team behind Innovation Mining has been working on a proprietary water-based formula called NsOL that offers the global mining industry a non-toxic alternative to cyanide.
While the elements going into NsOL are a closely guarded secret, Innovation says the formula is a mix of non-toxic ingredients that can dissolve gold and other metals from ores, concentrates, and tailings. The metals can then be recovered from solution using conventional methods such as electrowinning, carbon, or ion exchange.
To fully replace cyanide, however, Innovation must prove that NsOL can compete with the industry mainstay in both performance and cost.
Earlier this month, Innovation announced that it has successfully lowered the cost of the NsOL solution to under $1.50 per metric ton of ore for whole-ore heap leaching, which involves stacking low-grade ore inside lined containment and soaking with a solution that dissolves the gold.
Recent lab tests also indicate the enhanced NsOL formula outperforms cyanide when it comes to the amount of gold recovered. NsOL achieved recovery values of 1.59 grams per metric ton gold and 1.85 g/t gold in two tests, while a cyanide-based test on the same material returned a total calculated recovery of 1.36 g/t gold.
Innovation says the recent test results position the non-toxic gold recovery formula as "the first and only cost-effective alternative to cyanide."
Innovation understands that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. This is why the British Columbia-based company has contracted SGS, the world's leading testing and certification company, to validate the effectiveness, costs, and scalability of NsOL.
The testing to be carried out over the next two months includes a 200-kilogram test at SGS's lab in B.C. and a larger 100-metric-ton bulk sample test at Innovation's Tallapoosa (formerly RV) gold mine in Georgia.
Innovation's small-scale Tallapoosa gold mine in Georgia.
During both tests, SGS will compare Innovation's water-based formula with a conventional cyanide-based solution.
The findings from this study will be documented in a technical report that will provide a head-to-head comparison of the effectiveness and costs of NsOL and cyanide.
The promise of a non-toxic alternative to cyanide has attracted an extraordinary team to Innovation.
This team includes Duane Nelson, who stepped down from his role as president of EnviroMetal Technologies to focus more squarely on his vision of developing a non-toxic alternative to cyanide for recovering gold from low-grade deposits; Canadian Hall of Fame mining legend and heap leach mining pioneer Chester Millar, who serves as the chairman of Innovation Mining; and former Pretium Resources CEO Joe Ovsenek, who sits on the board.
Believing they have developed a potentially disruptive ESG-oriented technology that could change the way the world mines gold, Innovation's management and board decided to take the company public through an initial public offering (IPO) on a major North American exchange.
Innovation says representatives from the TMX Group, owners of the Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange in Canada, visited the company's offices and lab facilities in early September and expressed favorable support for the pending IPO.
The company hopes to complete a C$5 million to C$10 million (US$3.7 million to US$7.4 million) IPO by the end of the year.
With more than 16 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration and technology metals.
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