Sustainability in the mining industry: green gold

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Currently, one of the major environmental problems facing humanity is the existence of high levels of mercury pollution in the seas and oceans, where more than 800 tonnes of this metal are dumped every year.

The alarm at these high levels of contamination has been most noticeable in Japan and in South American countries, where if the use of this element is not curbed in the coming years, extreme situations could lead to a ban on the consumption of fish by the population.

For this reason, the measures being taken by the different governments to prevent its use are to prohibit its use or increase its price, so that its use becomes increasingly difficult.

As a measure to prevent gold production from decreasing while respecting the environment, a new technology is currently being perfected that releases gold without the need to use mercury during the process.

This innovative system, used in our mining projects in conjunction with Minexcorp, allows gold to be recovered more efficiently, more quickly and with less effort than the traditional method.

This technology is directly applied to the black sands (also known as ‘gold concentrate’).

This method is divided into three different parts:

  • The first part consists of the separation of the gold from the rest of the material by using a high intensity magnetic force.
  • The second part of the process is the rapid gravimetric recovery of the thicker gold, and the recovery of the lighter weight gold by flotation.
  • Finally, all the pieces of material obtained are melted using a blowtorch to be joined together at the end of the process.

It is estimated that the price of the ecological gold that we will extract will be approximately 5-10% higher than the gold obtained by the traditional process.

But what is organic gold?

By definition, organic gold is identified as gold that is extracted with the greatest possible respect for the environment. But there is another concept, sustainable gold, which is worth differentiating.

Differences between organic gold and sustainable gold

  • Ecological gold deals with all the processes and technology that respect the environment, with the natural environment being the only area of concern.
  • Sustainable gold is gold that is mined, processed and marketed with sustainability in mind, not only environmentally, but also economically, occupationally and socially.

Therefore, the gold extracted in the mining projects we currently manage will be producers of both types of gold.

How do you prove that it is ecological gold?

Before InnovaMinex came to the market it was practically impossible to prove that the gold was truly organic, but thanks to the blockchain-based traceability system we are designing, everyone will be able to verify that the highest standards of quality and sustainability are being followed.

Find out more about the traceability system here.

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