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Gold Mining in Europe
Key figures
Where Gold is found
How gold is mined
Cyanide in Gold Mining
Gold recovery from non-gold
mines and scrap recycling
Cyanide in Gold Mining
Although discussions about gold recovery processes are often
controversial, cyanide leaching is
today considered to be the best available technology for the
extraction of gold from ores, and has
revolutionized gold mining in many areas of the world. Other
chemicals have proven to leach gold
and silver but were not successfully applied yet in large-scale
industrial processes on a worldwide
basis. Therefore this industry is still seeking for a more
efficient leaching process which fits all of
today’s needs and requirements specifically also from
an environmental perspective. As cyanide is
highly toxic it can have a detrimental impact on the environment
and on living organisms in case of
exposure if not handled properly, it is therefore necessary
to identify the risks related to its use and
to implement measures and procedures to manage low risk operations.
In order to prevent future
incidents and improve the Environment and Health & Safety
performance of all mines using cyanide
throughout the world, the United Nations Environmental Program
(UNEP) has developed, together with a large range of stakeholders
(gold mining industry, governments, non-governmental organi-sations,
labour, cyanide producers and financial institutions) the
International Cyanide Management
Code for the manufacture, transport, and use of cyanide in
the production of gold in the mining
industry. All EU gold mines today apply cyanide destruction
technology and are currently in the
process of adopting the code. A copy of the code can be downloaded
from
www.cyanidecode.org

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