There seems to be some positive news about  the endeavour to make gold mining mercury free.

A non-profit organisation dedicated to eliminating the use of mercury in artisanal and small-scale gold mining, Mercury Free Mining,  announced yesterday that field tests of Goldrop, a mercury-free gold separation process, has “proved positive enough” in order  “to merit further testing and refinement”. The field tests were conducted  among small-scale miners in Ghana, West Africa.

“The Goldrop process offers hope for a safe alternative to toxic mercury, used by 15 million artisanal and small-scale gold miners around the world to separate gold particles from their surrounding mineral ore,” the organisation said. “Most of these miners, located in developing countries, depend on gold mining to survive. They rely on mercury as their access to a marginally efficient and affordable means to improve their gold separation effectiveness.”

However, it is well known that mercury is a “potent, permanent toxin”. Mercury Free Mining enumerates the many ways in which the element can cause harm:  mercury “can poison the human body irreparably, causing neurological disorders, birth defects, and a multitude of other illnesses”.

Moreover, the organisation also points out that along with harm to miners and their communities, “mercury enters into the atmosphere, and moves downstream from mining areas, through rivers, into the ocean, and into marine life”. And, what is of concern is that  mercury, an environmental contaminant,  is also exceedingly difficult to remove.

The Ghanaian Goldrop field test project participants included Mercury Free Mining; the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners (GNASSM); and Sluice Goose Industries, Inc., creator of the Goldrop gold separating processor.

Now that the first tests have produced positive results, Ghanaian technical experts  propose to  visit   the Goldrop factory in Oregon  to refine its effectiveness on various hard rock and alluvial ore matrix concentrates commonly seen at the country’s small mining sites.

“We will further test and help refine (Goldrop’s) effectiveness on these concentrates, which we will provide,” says GNASSM Technical Director Festus Adomako Kusi, who is a mineral engineer.

The proposed team who will conduct further tests will include:  Kusi; Ismel Quaicoe, a lecturer at the University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa, Ghana; and Peter Osei, a geologist and member of the GNASSM technical team.

“The Mercury Free Mining board of directors and I are enthusiastic about GNASSM’s endorsement of the Goldrop processor,” says Executive Director Toby Pomeroy, who traveled to Ghana in West Africa in January, at the invitation of GNASSM, to observe the testing of the Goldrop method on-site at four small-scale gold mining operations. “We’re also encouraged by GNASSM’s commitment to help refine the process.”

Mercury Free Mining also revealed that according to John Richmond, the inventor of the process,  the Goldrop method had previously been tested by North American gold mining prospectors, who said the processor is “significantly more efficient” than traditional gold panning, which often uses mercury to separate gold from other heavy minerals.

“Goldrop uses elutriation technology instead of mercury, which is a process for separating particles based on their size, shape, and density,” the organisation elucidated. “It flows gas or liquid in a direction opposite to the direction of sedimentation to achieve gold separation.”

“Mercury Free Mining’s mission helps to protect the integrity of the gold supply chain, which is vital to ensuring the public’s trust in our precious products,” said Bill Boyajian, chairman of the non-profit’s Board. “But more than anything else, we must eradicate the use of mercury from polluting our waters and the very air we breathe in order to protect all life on our planet. Please join us in this critical effort.”