OUTOTEC MESOTHERM
BIOX PROCESS
The Outotec MesoTHERM BIOX® process is
a sustainable solution for the treatment of
refractory gold ores that significantly reduces
cyanide consumption, and therefore costs, in
the leaching of certain bio-oxidation product
residues. It is based on Outotec’s proven and
highly successful mesophile BIOX process and
offers an easy, cost-effective upgrade path for
plants already using this process.
BENEFITS
• Reduces cyanide consumption by
up to 50%, minimizing inventory
requirements and reagent use, and
reducing safety risks
• Produces cleaner BIOX product solids
• Offers easy, cost-effective upgrade for
existing BIOX operations
• Based on proven technologies and
standard processing equipment
IMPROVED BIO-OXIDATION PERFORMANCE WITH A

Finland, June, 2020

REDUCED ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT
Cooling water
THERMOPHILE MODIFICATION
POST MESOPHILE BIOX
BIOX nutrients

MESOPHILE THERMOPHILE
STAGE STAGE
Concentrate
from flotation

Dilution
water
COUNTER-CURRENT
BIOX product DECANTATION THICKENERS

SURGE
TANK INTER-STAGE
THICKENING
Process water
Dilution
water
Acid solution to
neutralization

Washed, oxidised
Low-pressure compressed air Limestone / lime or acid Limestone / lime solids to CIL

Acid solution to neutralization

Outotec’s conventional mesophile BIOX process is an NEUTRALIZATION WATER RECOVERY

THICKENER
economical and environmentally attractive process for TANKS

liberating occluded gold hosted in refractory sulfidic Process

water
material by oxidatively leaching the sulfides to soluble
sulfates. Outotec MesoTHERM BIOX enhances this Neutralized
effluent to TSF
established process by combining mesophile bio-oxidation
technology with a higher-temperature thermophile
oxidative stage to enable an even more effective overall
sulfide oxidation step.

Reduced cyanide consumption and simplified

process operation
Traditionally, cyanide consumption with conventional
bio-oxidation residues is higher than with residues
produced through other oxidative technologies. By using
a higher-temperature thermophile microbial species,
Outotec MesoTHERM BIOX can cut cyanide consumption
by as much as 50% compared to conventional
bio-oxidation and significantly reduce the formation of
thiocyanate – a common and stable cyanide species
traditionally formed as a further by-product. Furthermore,
inter-stage thickening between the two oxidative
processes is used to decant off various solubilized
species prevalent in the mesophile stage, thus simplifying
operation of the thermophile stage.

A simple, cost-effective upgrade path

Upgrading an existing BIOX process to BIOX MesoTherm
is a relatively simple process and is based on proven
Outotec technologies, which are integrated in a
reconfigured circuit. The upgrade involves the addition of
an inter-stage thickening step using Outotec High Rate
Thickeners and Outotec OKTOP® Atmospheric Reactors
for the thermophile step. Outotec® OKTOP® reactor optimized for BIOX® processes

Outotec develops leading technologies and services for the sustainable use of Earth’s natural resources. Our 4,000 top experts are driven by each
customer’s unique challenges across the world. Outotec’s comprehensive offering creates the best value for our customers in the mining, metal,
energy, and chemical industries. Outotec had sales of approximately EUR 1.2 billion in 2019, and its shares are listed on NASDAQ Helsinki.
www.outotec.com

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