Gold Technology Carbon In Leach From Curtin University

Technology Carbon In Leach

Curtin University’s Gold Technology Grouph as designed and developed an automated “Carbon Meter" to continuously, reliably and accurately measure carbon concentrations in CIL tanks.

Currently, measuring the carbon to slurryratio involves taking a small sample from the tank, it’s time-consuming and has drawbacks interms of frequency, accuracy, and repeatability.

To optimising this process, you must precisely control the ratio of activated carbon to slurry.

Simply put, too much carbon is inefficient, while too little allows dissolved gold tobe lost to tailings.

But to control it, you first have to measure it. And this is true for the Carbon In Leachor CIL gold extraction process. Carbon-in-Leach accounts for about 75% of the world’s gold production.

Process Carbon In Leach

In this process, ground, gold-bearing ore is dissolved in a chemical slurry. Granules of activated carbon are added to absorb the dissolved gold, before further processing.

See Also :
Extracting Gold By Carbon In Pulp with Activated Carbon
Gold Processing With Method Carbon In Pulp 

This robust, self-contained unit takes sample sup to 20 times larger than the manual method, every 15 minutes, 24 hours per day, whichit feeds into a measurement cylinder that strains the larger carbon particles from the slurry before a laser beam accurately measures the amount of captured carbon.

This data, along with the well-established SIMCIL modelling tool, is used to optimise carbon management to a degree not previously possible.

The end result is less soluble gold lost to tailings. Gold producers are processing higher tonnages of lower grades of ore than ever before.

And along with fluctuating gold prices and increased costs, optimising processes is the key tolong-term profitability.

For many CIL operations, optimisations resulting in recovery a 100th of a gram more gold per tonne of slurry processed, can increase annual revenue by millions of dollars. And this is a significant benefit for any mining operation.

Activated  Carbon for Carbon In Leach

Video Gold Technology Carbon In Leach From Curtin University

Metallurgy In Mining Video

What do we know about metallurgy? Metallurgy is branch of science that deals with the procedures used when extracting metals from ores, purifying and alloying them. This also involves the study of the procedures used when making objects out of metals. Yet, to be able to understand fully all about metallurgy, it would be better to have a short glimpse of the history of metallurgy.

One of the oldest processes of applied science is the process of metallurgy. Its history would give us a good view of how the process developed and its association with metals. The history of metallurgy occurred around 7,000 BC which what they call the age of copper. It is the period between the Stone Age and the Bronze Age which could also be considered the turning point between Stone to Metal. 

The first process was purely accidental when the copper enter into the fireplace campfire hot. Obviously, the copper melted and when it cooled people noticed the change of its shape. The development of the process was also contributed by the magic of the fire. We could learn from the history of metallurgy that people in the old days relied on the fire for the metal processing 

In the 2800 BC comes the Bronze Age which is another development in metallurgy. People have become brilliant that they made an alloy of copper and tin since both was commonly found in the same ore. Which results bronze and bronze has become a commodity was used for the weapons of the armies as well as used as money for trade. 

In the 1500 BC, another breakthrough was found in metallurgy. It is the discovery of iron which was considered the most abundant metal in the earth but was difficult to extract.

By this then, in the 11th century, people pushed their luck and tried to heat the iron with charcoal in such a way that the carbon from the charcoal can be transferred to the iron.

With this, the metal would be hardened and the Age of Steel came. Yet, iron has become a continuous challenge to most metallurgists since it’s very hard which can only be hammered but can’t be melted. In the 513 BC, Chinese were able to think of a furnace strong enough to heat iron.

Metals nowadays are a commodity. From the buildings, the houses, to the littlest tools we use everyday; the magic of metals is involved. Without them, everything wouldn’t be that easy. One after another, metals have developed and evolved. Over the years, people never stopped adding bits to the history of metallurgy making way for the metals to be obviously useful and one of the most important things in our daily lives nowadays.

Video Metallurgy In Mining Old Kennecott Smelter Utah

Open Pit Mining Process

Opencast sometimes referred to as open cut mining, surface mining or simply open pit is extracted a mining technique that important minerals from a borrow or an open pit.

There are two types of extraction methods, commonly used in Large scale mining mineral; Open pit mining and tunnel mining or Under ground mining. Opencast mining is used when the minerals are on the surface only in the vicinity are degraded. This is especially when the soil or material covers the minerals are relatively thin and can be easily moved for mining to take place.

Top 10 Deepest Mine In The World

Currently now underground mining operation constitute the deepest mine in the world, with an average depth of between 2.5 km into the subsurface. The leader of the deepest mine in the world at this time is South Africa country, because there are many in the southern African countries that operate underground gold mines and two located in Ontario, Canada,  this mine is  Kidd Creek mine and Creighton mine. Three mine in South Africa are operated by the mining giant AngloGold Ashanti while the other mine belongs to Gold Fields.

This is the Top 10 deepest mine in the world

1. Mponeng Gold Mine 

Mponeng Gold Mine is the world’s deepest gold mine, this deepths mine of between 2,400m and 3,900m via a twin-shaft system in underground. Mponeng is a  gold mining industry in South Africa located south-west of Johannesburg, operations and owned by AngloGold Ashanti.

AngloGold Ashanti’s Mponeng mine in the North West Province of South Africa is one of the world’s deepest and richest gold mines with grades at over 8 g/t. It is one of three AngloGold projects in the West Witts area.

Mineral ore mined is treated and smelted at Mponeng’s gold plant. The ore is initially ground down by means of semiautogenous milling after which a conventional gold leach process incorporating liquid oxygen injection is applied. The gold is then extracted by means of carbon-in-pulp (CIP) technology. The plant conducts electro-winning and smelting (induction furnaces) on products from Savuka and TauTonaas well.

Total inclusive mineral resources as at December 31, 2014, were 86.38-million tonnes grading 17.52 g/t of gold. And total exclusive mineral resources were 44.12-million tonnes grading 18.01 g/t of gold.  Mponeng gold mine is currently undergoing expansion to extend the mine life beyond 2040.

Grasberg Mine The largest Gold Mine in world

Grasberg open pit mine at Tembagapura provinces of Papua Irian Jay seen from the heights

The largest Gold Mine in world, Grasberg mine located some 60 miles north of Timika, at Tembagapura provinces of Papua Irian Jaya, and is the most eastern provinces at the country Indonesia. Grasberg mine is a joint venture between Freeport-McMoRan  Copper & Gold (67.3%) and mining juggernaut Rio Tinto (13%), Government of Indonesia (9.3%) and PT Indocopper Investama Corporation (9.3%). Grasberg mine operator is PT Freeport Indonesia (a subsidiary of Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold)

Grasberg open pit mine in the Jayawijaya Mountain glaciers at  Papua Irian Jaya provinces Indoonesia

The story of the Grasberg mine at Tembagapura provinces of Papua Irian Jaya began in the mid-1930s when Dutch colonists discovered copper deposits in the Jayawijaya Mountain glaciers in Papua Irian Jaya. PT Freeport Indonesia commenced mining operations in 1972 and in 1988 discovered the Grasberg mine. The Grasberg mining district contains one of the world’s largest recoverable copper reserve and the largest gold reserve. About 800 people working in mines Grasberg at Tembagapura provinces of Papua Irian Jaya

Process Of Mining Gold Fields In Cerro Corona Mine

The Cerro Corona Mine in the highest part of the western Cordillera of the Andes Mountains in northern Peru, two kilometers north-west of the village of Hualgayoc in the Department of Cajamarca

Cerro Corona mine cover an area of 4,379.3 hectares, while the surface rights cover 1,244 hectares. The Cerro Corona Mine is mining methods open-pit situated in the highest part of the western Cordillera of the Andes Mountains in northern Peru, two kilometers north-west of the village of Hualgayoc in the Department of Cajamarca. And this gold mine owned  by Gold Fields La Cima S.A. (GFLC) a wholly owned subsidiary of Gold Fields Limited (GFL) which holds 99.53% of the economic interest, from the original 80% to 98.6% in 2012 and in 2013 to 99.53%.

Earlier in the year 2003, Gold Fields, through a subsidiary, signed a definitive agreement with Sociedad Minera Corona S.A. for the purchase of the Cerro Corona deposit and adjoining mining concessions.

The environmental impact assessment in Cerro Corona mine approved on 2 December 2005, and in May 2006 began construction at the mine Cerro Corona.  Building of the Las Gordas tailings dam and quarrying for the relevant construction material commenced in 2007.

The mine production in Cerro Corona started  in September 2008, when the process plant started to operate. The Project Cerro Corona mine involves the production of gold and copper and  It is estimated that the current Mineral Reserve will be depleted in 2023

MINERAL DEPOSIT IN CERRO CORONA MINE PERU

Gold Mining Africa

      Africa is a major producer of gold in the world, producing up to 30% of global production in gold mining africa. Africa has historically been recognized for its exceptional gold resource potential yet remains relatively under-explored. The opportunity to acquire prospective gold resource projects in Africa, and assure security of tenure, is often lost through failure to recognize and acknowledge the interests of local stakeholders.Although gold mining industry in South Africa is one of the global leaders in gold production, it also has the highest average production costs in the world. Coupled with labour problems, lowering grades as well as several mines reaching the end of their lives, it is not anticipated that South African production will increase in the future. Although Zimbabwe has historically been a prominent gold producer in Africa, political and economic issues could cause production problems for local producers. Tanzania and Mali are rapidly becoming Africa's newest gold producers with several mines being commissioned or in final feasibility stages. Ghana is still a major gold producer in Africa. Other countries contribute steadily to Africa's gold output. Much of the recent and ongoing success in tapping these areas' mineable gold reserves is simply due to the fact that low-grade (to 1.3 grams / tonne gold) near-surface (oxidised) ores can be recovered economically. A new challenge will be to economically recover low-grade sulphide ore by open pit and/or underground methods.

Mining Operations And Processing Minerals Ore Gold In Kanowna Belle Gold Mine

Kanowna Belle gold mines lies within the archaean Norseman-Wiluna greenstone belt and consists of a series of stacked lenses that have been identified over a strike length of 600m and to a depth of over 1,000m. The Kanowna Belle Gold Mine is a gold mines located 19 km north east of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, near the ghost town of Kanowna. Gold prospecting in Kanowna Belle Australia was first discovered in 1893 about a year after Bayley and Ford discovered the Coolgardie Field and not long after Paddy Hannan located the gold-bearing alluvials that led to the discovery of the Golden Mile at Kalgoorlie-Boulder, also in 1893.

In mid-1999, Delta Gold bought North’s 50% share for AUS$90m, and became the sole owner. Delta subsequently merged with fellow Australian company, Goldfields Ltd, to form AurionGold, which in turn was bought by Canada's Placer Dome. In early 2006, Barrick Gold Corp acquired Placer Dome in a US$10.4bn takeover, and now wholly owns the Kanowna group of operations, which includes Kanowna Belle, the Paddington mill and various other open-pit gold mines in the area.

Gold Prospecting And Gold Deposit Kanowna Belle Australia

Mining Operations And Gold Processing In Cortez Mine Nevada

The Cortez gold mine is located 100 kilometers southwest of Elko, Nevada in Lander County. The Cortez is found on the southern portion of the Battle Mountain-Eureka Trend in north central Nevada. Cortez Gold Mine is a large gold mining and processing facility in Lander and Eureka County, Nevada, United States, located approximately 75 miles (120 km) southwest of Elko. 

Cortez gold mines in Nevada is owned and operated by Barrick Gold and comprises the Pipeline and South Pipeline deposits and the Cortez Hills deposit.The Cortez Pipeline property is 11 kilometers northwest and the Cortez Pediment property (which includes the Cortez Hills deposit) is 4 kilometers southeast of the original Cortez milling complex. The Pipeline and South Pipeline deposits are mined by conventional open-pit methods.  

The Cortez property covers approximately 2,800 square kilometers on one of the world’s most highly prospective mineral trends. Pipeline and South Pipeline are open pit mines, while Cortez Hills is an underground and open pit mining operation. Under continuous operation, Cortez has been open longer than any gold mine in the state of Nevada. It is Barrick's and Nevada's largest gold producer.

Mining Operations Cortez Gold Mines In Nevada United States of America

The Pipeline and South Pipeline deposits are currently being mined using traditional open pit mining techniques, while the Cortez Hills deposit be mined out using both open pit and underground mining techniques.

Process Of Gold Mining Yanacocha Peru The Largest Gold Mine In South America

     

Yanacocha is the largest gold mine in South America, Yanacocha gold mine located in the province and the department of Cajamarca, Some 45km from Cajamarca in northern Peru, at an altitude of 4,700m, The sheer scale of the Yanacocha gold mine in Cajamarca, Peru, is staggering. It is the largest gold mine in Latin America, and the second largest in the world, covering 535 square miles.

Minera Yanacocha operates a complex of five gold mines and two processing facilities with development activities in four primary basins. Not only was this the first significant foreign investment in Peruvian mining for 20 years, but the project was undertaken in an area where guerillas were active, so the operation had to be heavily protected without antagonising local residents. The operation is a joint venture between Newmont (51.35%), Minas Buenaventura (43.65%) and the International Finance Corporation (5%)

The Yanacocha gold district is a 10x4km zone of altered rocks within a belt of tertiary volcanics that extends the whole length of Peru.

In the Yanacocha district, the volcanic pile has been subdivided into three groups:

Copper Production Process In Palabora Mine South Africa

      The Palabora copper mine in South Africa is one of the largest copper mines in the world. Copper production process in palabora mine south africa operates in accordance with the guidelines of the company, structured on human rights, corporate governance, environmental management, corporate citizenship and business ethics - as it is consistent with regulatory requirements, relevant and leading industry practices. The guidelines in this Palabora mining defined, approved and supervised by the company's board of directors. Palabora mine seeks to implement both the letter and the spirit of these guidelines for all areas of business.

      Subsurface mining activities in Palabora copper mine continue as planned The use of modern communication technologies open on southern Africa Palabora mining operations have resulted in huge cost savings in installation, hardware and engineering. In addition, many of the benefits derived from the functional advantages of digital communication. For example, all the diagnostic data can now be transferred directly from the field into the control room of mining operations. This increases reliability and significantly reduce plant downtime. Extensive diagnostic functions enable preventative maintenance and service work coordinated. A particular advantage is that the operation and configuration of field devices from different manufacturers in a network Profibus-PA can be done over the network with a single engineering tool (Commuwin from Endress and Hauser).

      Copper production process in palabora mine south africa Since 2003  , use two flotation plants for to copper production process from the autogenous mills in series to boost recovery from higher grade underground ore. Slurry that has not arrived at the final froth concentrate forms the feed to the magnetic separation plant. Transition to underground mining at the mine Palabora has allowed 50,000 tpd of conventional crushing, grinding and flotation capacity. Copper and magnetite recovered on behalf of Foskor (neighboring mining company) by toll processing 20,000 tpd of marginal ore stock of mining operations in the open Palabora. The conventional process route is also applied to underground ore available in excess of autogenous milling capacity.

Palabora Mining South Africa

     

      Palabora Mining is located at 360km north east of Pretoria, close to Kruger National Park, Palabora Mining in South Africa's leading copper producer and also a major source of vermiculite and baddeleyite (zirconium oxide). Palabora Mining Company was founded in South Africa in August 1956. The mining company is owned and managed by Rio Tinto. 57.7% owned by Rio Tinto and Anglo American has a stake of 16.8%. On September 5, 2012, both mining companies have announced their intention to sell their respective interests in Palabora mining. And on December 11, 2012, Rio Tinto announced that it reached an agreement with a consortium of sales that are committed to sustainable management continuously in mining bound Palabora. The consortium is made up of the South African state and the Chinese state entities led by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) of South Africa Limited and China's Hebei Iron & Steel Group. The sale agreement was concluded in July 2013, and the company name changed from Palabora to Palabora Copper Mining Company (Pty) Limited.

     

      Palabora mine containing magnetite, vermiculite, apatite, zirconium, titanium and uranium and copper. Mineral deposits in a complex consisting of alkali pyroxenite especially frozen by events pegmatites, foskorite and carbonatite. Three separate mineralized zones have been identified in surface outcrop 20km² complex of phosphate-rich northern and central (Loolekop) zones form the basis for the production of copper in this Palabora mining. Copper mineral ore that is channeled into the carbonatite pipe where the value is usually concentric with the highest value (1.0% copper) at its core. High grade copper mineralization extends in the middle of the end of the projection on the floor of the open pit mine.

Mining Methods And Gold Processing Musselwhite Mines

   

      Mining methods and gold processing musselwhite mines initially operated both open-pit and underground mines, open-pit production having been designed to ensure mill feed at a rate of 3,300t/d for about five years following mill commissioning. Most of the mine’s ore is now sourced from underground. And gold processing from musselwhite mines processing includes crushing, grinding, leaching by cyanidation, carbon in pulp recovery and electrowinning, to achieve an overall recovery of approximately 96%.

      The stratigraphy in the Musselwhite mine vicinity is dominated by mafic volcanics, chemical sediments and felsic volcanics. External into the supracrustal sequences are a series of undifferentiated gneisses and granitoids. All mineral lithologies within the immediate mine area have been metamorphosed at mid to upper amphibolite facies. Mineralization is predominantly hosted within meta-chemical sediments (banded iron formations) and in particular within garnet-magnetite-grunerite facies meta-banded iron formations (locally termed the Northern Iron Formation). The location of mineralization is controlled by the intersection of shear zones and folded meta-banded iron formations. These geological controls result in mineralized shoots, which plunge at approximately 15 degrees to grid north, have a down dip extent of up to 150 metres, down plunge continuation in excess of 1.5 kilometres, and across-lithology width of up to 10 metres. Mineralized zones are characterized by abundant pyrrhotite, quartz flooding and, rarely, visible gold.

Mining Methods In  Musselwhite Mines

Gold Mining Industry In South Africa

      

       The country of South Africa is the producer of gold in the world. The successful gold mining industry in South Africa has had a significant impact on the development of africa as an advanced an economically successful country. Mining in South Africa has been the main driving force behind the history and development of Africa's most advanced and richest economy, after Nigeria The nation's gold mining efforts began with the discovery of a diamond stone at the Orange River in 1867. Soon after, the Kimberly pipes were discovered and explored, and gold rushes began to Pilgrim's Rest and Barberton. The Witwatersrand gold rush took place in 1886. This historical event began the development of the gold field in the area and formed the well known city of Johannesburg which is a region africa gold mines. Known as the Witwatersrand basin, this popular area has generated more than 41,000 tons of gold from Africa Mining and continues to be mined today. It is a massive area that encompasses more than 400km.

      The gold mining industry in South Africa is successful due to the countries large gold in africa, which make up a substantial portion of the gold reserves and gold prospecting in the entire world, with some estimates over 50%. The US Geological survey believes that the country has over 6000 metric tons of precious metal, but 95% of it is located underground. The future of gold mining industry in South Africa depends on the level of gold, that the mines can produce. However, the extraction of gold has recently declined because of rising costs. These higher costs are a direct result of the declining grades, an increase in the underground depth of the mines and a declining gold price.

AngloGold Ashanti Operations And Exploration Gold Mines In World

      Gold mining companies AngloGold began in South Africa in May of 1998, when the gold and uranium mining interests of Anglo American Corporation of South Africa were consolidated. AngloGold Limited was formed in June 1998 through the consolidation of the gold interests of Anglo American Corporation of South Africa Limited (AAC) and its associated companies, namely East Rand Gold and Uranium Company Limited; Eastvaal Gold Holdings Limited; Southvaal Holdings Limited; Free State Consolidated Gold Mines Limited; Elandsrand Gold Mining Company Limited; H.J. Joel Gold Mining Company Limited and Western Deep Levels Limited into a single, focused, independent, gold company. Vaal Reefs Exploration and Mining Company Limited (Vaal Reefs), the vehicle for the consolidation, changed its name to AngloGold Limited and increased its authorised share capital, effective 30 March 1998. AngloGold acquired minority shareholders interest in Driefontein Consolidated Limited (17%); Anmercosa Mining (West Africa) Limited (100%); Western Ultra Deep Levels Limited (89%); Eastern Gold Holdings Limited (52%); Erongo Mining and Exploration Company Limited (70%)

      In August 1998, AngloGold became the first South African company to list on the NYSE. AngloGold Ashanti Limited is a global gold mining company by the merger of AngloGold and the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation in 2004 AngloGold Ashanti Limited constitute mining for a gold exploration, development and production company with operations in South Africa, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Namibia and Tanzania. The AngloGold constitute largest gold mines in the world. They are listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE:AGA), the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:AU), the London Stock Exchange (LSE:AGD), the Ghana Stock Exchange (GhSE:AGA) and the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX:AGG).

Gold Mines Bald Mountain ( History, Mining Methods And Operation )

     

      The Bald Mountain mine is one of largest gold mines in the world. The Bald Mountain mine lies within the Southern Ruby Mountains of northeastern Nevada, approximately 110 kilometers northwest of Ely, Nevada and 110 kilometers southeast of Elko, Nevada. Bald Mountain is operated by Barrick and ore is sourced from multiple open pits over an estimated 600 km2 property with processing at multiple conventional heap leaching facilities. Bald Mountain is the largest mine site by area in the U.S. It stretches 40 km north to south and 16 km east to west with the north and south areas being 19 km apart.

History Bald Mountain mine 

      The Bald Mountain mine lies on the western flanks of Little Bald Mountain and Big Bald Mountain. Rocks exposed in the area comprise a conformable, generally SSE dipping sequence of Cambrian to Silurian limestones, dolomites, shales, quartzites and siltstones. These sediments have been intruded by the Jurassic (159 Ma) Bald Mountain quartz-monzonite stock, and related felsic dykes, along a major north-west structural trend. Intense pre- and post-mineral faulting has produced a complex structural regime at Bald Mountain, controlled by the intersection of deep crustal NW and NNE trending fractures which have localised and controlled the location of gold deposits. Overall , the pluton, associated dykes and Au mineralisation are all controlled by the crustal scale, NW trending Bida Trend structure. Every rock exposed in that part of the district, from the lower Cambrian Hamburg Dolomite to the Silurian Laketown Dolomite has hosted some ore (Placer Dome, 1995).

Premier Assets Production Barrick Gold Mine In 2015

      The largest gold mines in the world Barrick Gold Corporation in 2015 premier assets production barrick gold mine is 6.1 - 6.4 million ounces, at all-in sustaining costs of $840 - $880 per ounce, from a portfolio that includes some of the world’s premier gold assets. All - in sustaining costs per ounce $600 - $640 Cash costs per ounce. Barrick Mine for Copper production in 2015 is expected to be 480 - 520 million pounds of copper at cash costs of $1.75 - $2.00 per pound, cash costs per pound $2.35 - $2.65 fully allocated costs per pound

      Premier assets production barrick gold mine five cornerstone mines — Cortez and Goldstrike in Nevada, Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican Republic, Lagunas Norte in Peru and Veladero in Argentina — are forecast to contribute 60% of overall in 2015 production at all and in sustaining costs of $725 - $775 per ounce. At two grams per tonne, these mines have an average reserve grade more than double that of peer group average. They are among the most attractive assets in the entire gold industry, generating strong free cash flow even in today’s gold price environment, while offering exceptional leverage to higher gold prices.

      Barrick has been successful at consistently finding and replacing reserves and resources through exploration and selective acquisitions. Even during the years of lower gold prices, when most of the industry retrenched, Barrick maintained its commitment to exploration and discovered Lagunas Norte in Peru, one of the few major discoveries of the 1990s. The company's most recent major discovery is Goldrush, located near the Cortez mine in Nevada — the only 10-million-plus ounce green-field discovery by a major gold producer in the past five years. The 2015 exploration budget of $180 - $220 million1 is allocated to mine site exploration and greenfield projects — primarily on our newest discovery, Alturas, and the El Indio belt.

This is operations gold production from Barrick gold mining :

Exploration Gold Mine In United States

1. Bald Mountain Mine ( Nevada ) 

      The Bald Mountain mine lies within the Southern Ruby Mountains of northeastern Nevada, approximately 110 kilometers northwest of Ely, Nevada and 110 kilometers southeast of Elko, Nevada. Bald Mountain is an open-pit, run-of-mine, heap leach gold mine with conventional heap leaching technology and carbon absorption for ore treatment. Bald Mountain produced 161,000 ounces of gold in 2014 at all-in sustaining costs of $1,070 per ounce. Proven and probable mineral reserves as at December 31, 2014, were 1.36 million ounces of gold

2. Cortez mine ( Nevada )

      The Cortez mine is located 100 kilometers southwest of Elko, Nevada in Lander County. The Cortez Pipeline property is 11 kilometers northwest and the Cortez Pediment property (which includes the Cortez Hills deposit) is four kilometers southeast of the original Cortez milling complex. The Pipeline and South Pipeline deposits are mined by conventional open-pit methods. The Cortez property covers approximately 2,800 square kilometers on one of the world’s most highly prospective mineral trends.

Cortez employs three different metallurgical processes to recover gold. Lower-grade oxide ore is heap leached, while higher-grade non-refractory ore is treated in a conventional mill using cyanidation and a carbon-in-leach (“CIL”) process. Heap leached ore is hauled directly to leach pads for gold recovery. Carbonaceous mill ore is mined intermittently during the mining of the Pipeline/South Pipeline deposits. A prefeasibility study for underground mining at Cortez below currently permitted levels will be completed in late 2015.

Mineralization in this zone is primarily oxide and higher grade compared to the current underground mine, which is sulfide in nature. The limits of the Lower Zone have not yet been defined, and drilling has indicated the potential for new targets at depth. The exploration drift has been extended to the south, enabling additional step-out drilling, which is anticipated to begin in June. Drill results to date include 36.6 meters at 31.5 grams per tonne and 27.4 meters at 20.9 grams per tonne, both oxide in nature, which compare favorably with the average grade of 13.8 grams per tonne in refractory ore above the 3,800 foot level

3. Golden Sunlight mine ( Montana )

      

      The Golden Sunlight mine is located in Jefferson County in southwestern Montana, 55 kilometers east of Butte and eight kilometers northeast of Whitehall. The property lies on the eastern flank of a fault-bounded mountain range known as Bull Mountain.Golden Sunlight is mined by conventional open-pit methods. The ore treatment plant uses conventional carbon-in-pulp technology as well as Sand Tailing Retreatment (STR), designed to recover gold that would otherwise be lost in the process. Golden Sunlight produced 86,000 ounces of gold in 2014 at all-in sustaining costs of $1,181 per ounce1. Proven and probable mineral reserves as at December 31, 2014, were 127,000 ounces of gold2.In 2015, gold production is expected to be 90,000-105,000 ounces at all-in sustaining costs of $1,000-$1,025 per ounce

4. Goldstrike Mine ( Nevada ) 

      The Goldstrike Complex is located on the Carlin Trend, the most prolific gold mining district in the Western Hemisphere, about 60 kilometers northwest of Elko, Nevada. The Goldstrike operation includes the Betze-Post open pit mine and the Meikle and Rodeo underground mines which are located just north of the Betze-Post pit, along the same mineralized trend. The Betze-Post pit is a truck-and-shovel operation using large electric shovels. Meikle is a high-grade ore body which is mined by transverse longhole stoping, underhand drift and fill mining methods. Rodeo is a further extension of the mineralization found at Goldstrike and is a trackless operation, using two different underground mining methods: long-hole open stoping and drift-and-fill.

The Goldstrike Property produced 902,000 ounces of gold in 2014 at all-in sustaining costs of $854 per ounce1. Goldstrike’s proven and probable mineral reserves as at December 31, 2014, were 9.6 million ounces of gold2. Production at Goldstrike in 2015 is expected to be 1.000-1.150 million ounces at all-in sustaining costs of $700-$800 per ounce including contributions from the thiosulfate leaching circuit. The mine is anticipated to continue producing at the one million ounce level for the next three years (2015-2017) at all-in sustaining costs below $900 per ounce.

5. Round Mountain Mine( Nevada ) 

      Round Mountain Located approximately 96 kilometers north of Tonopah in Nye County, Nevada, Round Mountain is a joint venture operation in which Barrick holds a 50% interest with Kinross Gold Corporation — the operator — owning the remainder of the interest. Round Mountain is a conventional open-pit operation that uses multiple processing methods including crushed ore leaching (reusable pad), run-of-mine ore leaching (dedicated pad), milling of higher-grade ore, and the gravity concentration circuit. Barrick’s share of gold production in 2014 was 164,000 ounces at all-in sustaining costs of $1,170 per ounce1. Barrick’s share of proven and probable mineral reserves as at December 31, 2014, was 690,000 ounces of gold2. In 2015, gold production is expected to be 170,000-190,000 ounces (Barrick’s share) at all-in sustaining costs of $1,180-$1,205 per ounce.

6. Ruby Hill mine ( Nevada ) 

      The Ruby Hill mine is located on the Battle Mountain/Eureka gold trend, less than one kilometer from the town of Eureka and 193 kilometers south of the Goldstrike Property. Ruby Hill produced 33,000 ounces of gold in 2014 at all-in sustaining costs of $713 per ounce1. Proven and probable mineral reserves as at December 31, 2014, were 24,000 ounces of gold.

7. Turquoise Ridge  Mine ( Nevada ) 

      The Turquoise Ridge property is located in the Potosi Mining District, about 70 kilometers northeast of Winnemucca, Nevada, on the eastern flank of the Osgood Mountains. Barrick is the operator and 75% owner of the mine with Newmont owning the remaining 25%. Turquoise Ridge uses underhand cut-and-fill mining methods and ore is transported to Newmont’s Twin Creeks mill for processing. The refractory gold ore is treated by pressure oxidation technology and gold is recovered using conventional carbon-in-leach technology.

Barrick’s share of gold production in 2014 was 195,000 ounces of gold at all-in sustaining costs of $628 per ounce. The Turquoise Ridge mine contains 4.5 million ounces in reserves (75% basis) at an average grade of 16.9 grams per tonne — the highest reserve grade in the company's operating portfolio and among the highest in the entire gold industry. Turquoise Ridge has considerable untapped potential and could become a core operation for Barrick. The company is advancing a project to develop an additional shaft, which could bring forward more than one million ounces of production, roughly doubling output to an average of 500,000 ounces per year (100% basis) at all-in sustaining costs of about $625 - $675 per ounce.

The prefeasibility study was completed in January 2015 and key permits are expected in 2015. Pending approval by the joint venture partners, construction could commence in 2015, with initial production beginning in 2019. Preliminary estimates indicate capital expenditures of approximately $300 - $325 million (100% basis) for additional underground development and shaft construction, and an attractive payback period of roughly two and a half years using a gold price assumption of $1,300 per ounce.


Exploration Gold Mine In Argentina

1. Veladero mine ( San Juan )

      The Veladero mine mine is located in the San Juan Province of Argentina, immediately to the south of the Pascua-Lama property in the highly prospective Frontera District. The property is located at elevations of 4,000 to 4,850 meters above sea level, approximately 374 kilometers northwest of the city of San Juan. Veladero is a conventional open-pit operation where ore is crushed by a two-stage crushing process and transported via overland conveyor and trucks to the leach pad area. Run-of-mine ore is trucked directly to the valley-fill leach pad. Veladero produced 722,000 ounces of gold in 2014 at all-in sustaining costs of $815 per ounce. Proven and probable mineral reserves as at December 31, 2014, were 4.7 million ounces of gold. Gold production in 2015 is expected to be 575,000 - 625,000 ounces and all-in sustaining costs are anticipated to be $990 - $1,035 per ounce.

Exploration Gold Mine In Australia

1. Kalgoorlie Mine ( Kalgoorlie )

      The Kalgoorlie operation consists primarily of the Super Pit open-pit mine, located along the Golden Mile ore bodies which were previously mined from underground. The mine is located adjacent to the town of Kalgoorlie approximately 550 kilometers east of Perth, Western Australia. Barrick holds a 50% interest with Newmont Mining Corporation holding the remaining 50% interest. Kalgoorlie is an open-pit, truck-and-loader operation. Ore is treated at the Fimiston mill, with the resulting sulphide concentrates then roasted and leached at the Gidji roaster, located approximately 20 kilometers north of the main Kalgoorlie operations.

Gold-laden carbon from the Gidji roaster is also processed at the Fimiston mill. Concentrates that cannot be processed by the roaster is treated by two ultra-fine grinding mills. Barrick's share of gold production in 2014 was 326,000 ounces at all-in sustaining costs of $1,037 per ounce. Barrick's share of proven and probable mineral reserves as at December 31, 2014, was 3.5 million ounces of gold. Gold production in 2015 is expected to be 315,000 - 330,000 ounces (Barrick’s share) at all-in sustaining costs of $915 - $940 per ounce.

Exploration Gold Mine In Canada

1. Hemlo Mine ( Ontario )

The Hemlo property consists of Williams, an underground and open pit mine, located approximately 350 kilometers east of Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada. Ore from the mine is fed to a standard grind, leach and carbon-in-pulp extraction mill. Hemlo produced 206,000 ounces of gold in 2014 at all-in sustaining costs of $1,059 per ounce. Hemlo’s proven and probable mineral reserves as at December 31, 2014, were 820,000 ounces of gold. In 2015, gold production is expected to be 200,000-225,000 ounces at all-in sustaining costs of $940-$980 per ounce.


Exploration Gold Mine In Dominican Republic

1. Pueblo Viejo Mine ( Azua ) 

      Pueblo Viejo is located in the Dominican Republic, approximately 100 kilometers northwest of the capital city of Santo Domingo, and is operated by the Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Corporation ("PVDC") — a joint venture between Barrick (60%) and Goldcorp (40%). The mine completed its ramp up in 2014, and is now the only mine in the world with annual production of more than one million ounces of gold (100% basis), at all-in sustaining costs below $700 per ounce for the next three years (2015-2017).

Barrick’s technical experts have identified multiple opportunities to further optimize operations and increase cash flow at Pueblo Viejo. These include: increasing plant throughput by optimizing ore blending and autoclave ability; and reducing costs by optimizing maintenance programs. Long-term, Pueblo Viejo has significant reserves and resources with potential to expend the life of the mine. Barrick’s share of gold production in 2014 was 665,000 ounces at all-in sustaining costs of $588 per ounce. Gold production in 2015 is forecast to be 625,000-675,000 ounces (Barrick’s share) at all-in sustaining costs of $540-$590 per ounce.

Exploration Gold Mine In Papua New Guinea

1. Porgera Joint Venture Mine ( Enga ) 

      The Porgera Joint Venture is an open pit and underground gold mine located at an altitude of 2,200 - 2,700 meters in the Enga Province of Papua New Guinea. The operation is roughly 130 kilometers west of Mount Hagen and 600 kilometers northwest of the capital Port Moresby. Barrick (Niugini) Ltd. is the 95% owner of the Porgera Joint Venture and is the manager of the operation. Barrick Gold Corporation and Zijin Mining Group each own 50% of Barrick (Niugini) Ltd. The remaining 5% interest in the Porgera Joint Venture is held by Mineral Resources Enga and is divided between the Enga Provincial government (2.5%) and local landowners (2.5%). Barrick’s share of gold production in 2014 was 493,000 ounces (95% basis) at all-in sustaining costs of $996 per ounce. Barrick’s share of proven and probable mineral reserves as at December 31, 2014, was 3.0 million ounces of gold (95% basis). In 2015, gold production is expected to be 400,000-450,000 ounces (95% basis) at all-in sustaining costs of $1,025-$1,125 per ounce.


Exploration Gold Mine In Peru

1. Lagunas Norte Mine ( Alto Chicama ) 

      Lagunas Norte is located on the Alto Chicama property in north-central Peru, 140 kilometers east of the coastal city of Trujillo, and 175 kilometers north of Barrick’s Pierina mine. The property lies on the western flank of the Peruvian Andes and is at an elevation of 4,000 to 4,260 meters above sea level. The Lagunas Norte mine is an open-pit, crush, valley-fill heap leach operation. Lagunas Norte produced 582,000 ounces of gold in 2014 at all-in sustaining costs of $543 per ounce. Production in 2015 is anticipated to be 600,000-650,000 ounces of gold at all-in sustaining costs of $600 - $650 per ounce.

2. Pierina mine ( Andean Cordillera ) 

      The Pierina mine is located in the Andean Cordillera in the Department of Ancash in north-central Peru, approximately 10 kilometers northwest of the city of Huaraz, at an altitude of approximately 4,100 meters. Pierina is an open-pit, truck-and-loader operation. Ore is crushed and transported through an overland conveyor to the leach pad area. Run-of-mine ore is trucked directly to a classic valley-fill type of leach pad. Pierina produced 17,000 ounces of gold in 2014 at all-in sustaining costs of $2,277 per ounce.


Exploration Gold Mine Argentina And Chili

1. Pascua Lama Mine ( Frontera ) 

      The Pascua Lama project is located on the border of Chile and Argentina, in the Frontera district at an elevation of 3,800 to 5,200 meters, approximately 10 kilometers from Barrick’s Veladero mine. It has 15.4 million ounces of gold reserves and more than 674 million ounces of contained silver. During 2013, Barrick announced the temporary suspension of construction at Pascua-Lama, except for activities required for environmental and regulatory compliance. The ramp-down process has been completed on schedule and budget and the project is now on care and maintenance.

Pascua-Lama's new Executive Project Director, Sergio Fuentes, reports to our Co-Presidents and comes to Barrick after nearly three decades of successfully managing the construction of complex mining projects in Chile, including high-altitude operations in the Andes. He and the team he is assembling are working hard to assess Pascua-Lama's economics going forward. To do so, they will address the project's outstanding legal and regulatory hurdles, and will complete a new execution plan to optimize remaining construction activities. If that plan aligns with our capital allocation objectives and demonstrates an acceptable return on invested capital of at least 15%, we will consider resuming development of Pascua-Lama. In any scenario, the company must permit and construct a new water management system in Chile.

We will submit our application for the new system by mid-year, with permitting expected to take two years. In the meantime, we are working to minimize the costs of holding the asset. In 2015, Barrick anticipates expenditures of approximately $170 - $190 million for the project, including approximately $140 - $150 million for care and maintenance, including water management system costs, and approximately $30 - $40 million1 for other project costs, including those related to permit obligations in Argentina and Chile.

This is operations Copper production from Barrick gold mining :

 Exploration Copper Mine Chile

1. Zaldívar Mine ( Andean Precordillera ) 

      Zaldívar Copper mine is located in the Andean Precordillera in Region II of northern Chile, approximately 1,400 kilometers north of Santiago and 175 kilometers southeast of the port city of Antofagasta. The mine lies at an average elevation of 3,000 meters. Zaldívar is an open-pit, heap-leach copper mine. Pure cathode copper is produced by three stages of crushing and stacking, followed by heap leaching and bacterial activity to remove the copper from the ore. Run-of-mine dump leach material is placed on the old sulphide ore pad and leached. Zaldívar produced 222 million pounds of copper in 2014 at cash costs of $1.79 per pound and fully allocated costs of $1.94 per pound1. Proven and probable copper reserves as at December 31, 2014, were 5.6 billion pounds. Copper production in 2015 is expected to be 230-250 million pounds at cash costs of $1.65 - $1.95 per pound and fully allocated costs of $2.00 - $2.30 per pound 

Exploration Copper Mine Zambia

1. Lumwana mine ( Solwezi District )

      The Lumwana copper mine is located in Zambia, in one of the most prospective copper regions in the world. Lumwana ore, which is predominantly sulfide, is treated through a conventional sulfide flotation plant, producing copper concentrate for smelting. Lumwana produced 214 million pounds of copper in 2014 at cash costs of $2.08 per pound and fully allocated costs of $2.76 per pound. Proven and probable copper reserves as at December 31, 2014, were 3.3 billion pounds. Production is anticipated to be 250 - 270 million pounds at cash costs of $1.90 - $2.15 per pound in 2015.

Exploration Copper Mine Saudi Arabia

1. Jabal Sayid copper mine ( Jeddah ) 

      In July 2014, Barrick reached an agreement to form a 50/50 joint venture with Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) for the Jabal Sayid copper mine in Saudi Arabia. Jabal Sayid is located 350 kilometres North East of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. The transaction closed on December 3, 2014. Construction to complete safety and security installations has begun and shipments of low-cost copper-in-concentrate are anticipated in early 2016. Once the mine reaches full production, the average annual output is expected to be 100 million pounds per year, with the potential to increase to 130 million pounds. As at December 31, 2014, Barrick’s share of copper reserves at Jabal Sayid was 699 million pounds.

Resource : Barrick Gold Corporation

Top 10 Copper Mine In The World

     

      Copper is an excellent conductor of electricity. More than half of the copper consumed is used in electrical generators and motors, electrical power and lighting fixtures, electrical wiring, radio and television sets, computers and almost everything electrical. Copper also conducts heat well and is used for thin-walled copper tubing in air conditioning and refrigeration units, motor vehicle radiators, home heating systems, steam condensers etc. Copper's corrosion resistance and ease with which it can be joined make it suitable for plumbing fittings and water reticulation systems, automotive fuel lines, sea water desalination plants and hydraulic systems. The blue-green colour of treated timber is the result of copper naphthanate and copper-chrome-arsenate which have been introduced under pressure to help protect the wood from borers. Copper sulphate is used as a fungicide and as a trace element in fertilisers. Copper is used also for making coins and scientific instruments as well as in decorative applications

      The conversion of copper consists of a series of chemical, physical, and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ore source, local environmental regulations, and other factors.As in all mining operations, the ore must usually be beneficiated (concentrated). To do this, the ore is crushed. Then it must be roasted to convert sulfides to oxides, which are smelted to produce matte. Finally, it undergoes various refining processes, the final one being electrolysis.

      Meanwhile, a number of the world’s biggest mining companies appear to be placing bets on copper. Global mine production of copper increased from 2013 to 2014, with mines producing 270,000 additional tonnes last year. A rise in production volume, better grades and a number of new mines, ramp ups and expansions were enough to offset losses incurred from mine closures, lower grades and operational disruptions. Companies also combated lower yields, which accounted for two-thirds of total production losses.

      Thomson Reuters GFMS release its Annual Copper survey – Copper 2015 – in which it predicts a continuing copper surplus and a 12% fall in average copper price for the year to $5975/tonne compared with 2014.

Here’s the top 10 copper mine in the world ( copper-producing companies ) , as outlined in this year’s Thomson Reuters GFMS Copper Survey.

Top 10 World Silver Mine

      The majority of silver is produced as a by-product of mining other metals such as copper and gold. The physical properties of silver include high ductility, electrical conductivity, malleability, and reflectivity. Silver has widespread uses throughout the global economy, from jewelry to cell phones to surgical tools.Strong and malleable, silver can take various forms. It is one of the best thermal conduits and has the highest electrical conductivity of all other metals including copper. These characteristics make silver a perfect component for many of today's modern electronics.

      In 2014, the estimated uses for silver were electrical and electronics, 42%; coins and medals, 35%; photography, 13%; jewelry and silverware, 7%; and other, 3%. Other applications for silver include use in bandages and pharmaceuticals for wound care, batteries, bearings, brazing and soldering, catalytic converters in automobiles, cell phone covers to reduce the spread of bacteria, clothing to minimize odor, electroplating, inks, mirrors, solar cells, water purification, and wood treatment. An emerging use of silver is in athletic clothing where biosensing silver fibers may be woven directly into the fabric. This athletic clothing transmits biometric data such as the wearer’s real - time heartbeat to a sensor that displays the data. Silver metal in fine powder form is also being used in 3D printing to make jewelry and various other items. Silver was used for miniature antennas in radio frequency identification devices that were used in casino chips, toll road transponders, gasoline speed purchase devices, passports, and on packages to keep track of inventory shipments.

      Worldwide silver production increased during 2014 despite reduced demand for the metal across several industries. Specifically, the US Geological Survey (USGS) states in its most recent report on silver that mine output rose to 26,100 metric tons (MT) last year. Global silver mine output is split between primary producers and secondary producers who generate silver as a by product. 

This the top 10 world silver mining companies below, with product a primary silver mines :
( Source GFMS )

Process Electrowinning For Gold Mining

Electrowinning is an electrochemical process used to reduce the metal cations to the cathode surface of an aqueous solution derived from the chemical leaching proces. Electrowinning or often referred to as electroextraction is the electrodeposition of metals from ore minerals that have dissolved into the liquid and will be processed using Electrorefining to remove impurities from the metal. Electrowinning an electrolytic process that is very old in the mining industry. 

The English chemist Humphry Davy first obtained sodium metal in the form of the element in 1807 by electrolysis of molten sodium hydroxide. And then in 1847 Maximilian, Duke of Leuchtenberg first to show an experiment about Electrorefining copper. Then James Elkington patented a commercial process in 1865 and successfully opened the first factory in Pembrey, Wales in 1870. The first commercial plant in the United States is Balbach and Sons Refining and smelting Company in Newark, New Jersey in 1883

     Electrowinning is applied to a variety of chemical solutions that are found in large mining industry. This process involves the use of alkaline cyanide solution as an electrolyte in a cell as the anode and cathode, among others, can use:

ANODE      ( - )	GOLD 99,99 %	STAINLESS STEEL 316	DICOATING MERKURY COPPER	IRON
CATHODE  ( + )	SILVER  99,99	STAINLESS STEEL 316	TIN	ALUMINUM

Cell reaction that occurs is: Merkury dicoating Copper, Lead, Iron, Aluminum
Anode: 2OH-→ O2 + H2O + 2e-
Cathode: 2Au (CN) 2 - + 2e-→ 2Au + 4CN-
Overall: 2Au (CN) 2 - + 2OH-→ 2Au + O2 + H2O + 4CN-