A small Canadian company’s new way of extracting gold and other

precious metals is showing big promise for the mining industry, and for
efforts to deal with the growing problem of electronic waste.

The CEO of Vancouver-based EnviroLeach Technologies says the new

approach is also the biggest innovation for conventional gold mining in 150
years.

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“The advent of cyanide in the 1870’s was the biggest innovation in all of
mining history, and this challenges that,” says Duane Nelson. “Our
technology has equal-to or better leach kinetics than cyanide, and a much
broader base of available ores and concentrates that it can be used on. So
this is potentially a game changer for the mining sector.”

NEW WATER-BASED EXTRACTION PROCESS AIMS TO BECOME AN

ALTERNATIVE TO ACID- AND CYANIDE-BASED LEACHING.

EnviroLeach’s new plant, a joint venture with electronics giant Jabil Inc., will
open in December in Memphis, Tennessee. The 650,000 square foot plant
will shred and pulverize discarded circuit boards and other electronic
waste. Then, using proprietary technology, Jabil will extract gold and other
precious metals from the e-waste to manufacture electronic components for
Dell, Hewlett-Packard and other clients.

Because it’s water-based and uses harmless ingredients, Nelson says the
process is far more environmentally friendly than extraction by cyanide, hot
acid digestion or other conventional methods.

“You can put your hand in it,” says Nelson. “You can effectively drink the
stuff,” he says, adding it’s also less expensive because the solution can be
used repeatedly.
Applying inorganic electro-chemistry research methods, Nelson says
EnviroLeach’s team of 20 scientists “stumbled upon” the new technique.
Ore concentrate or pulverized e-waste is mixed with ordinary water
containing five ingredients. The solution is then pumped through cells of
small, man-made diamond plates and then zapped with electricity. The gold
and other precious metals separate and are extracted from the solution,
which can be recharged and used again.

This new method for getting gold from e-waste may be just what miners
needWith environmentalists pressuring governments to deal with the
growing mountains of e-waste around the world, EnviroLeach and Jabil
shareholders see huge profits in recycling the 50 million tonnes of e-waste
dumped in landfills every year.

But Nelson says the new process can also unlock riches for conventional
mining. Unlike cyanide or hot acid digestion, Nelson says the new process
doesn’t damage equipment. More importantly, it could be used in locations
where cyanide is banned.

“So there are hundreds of mines out there that could benefit from this
technology,” he says.

Does cheap, effective and environmentally safe mining sound too good to
be true? Nelson has this response for the skeptics.

“You know, cyanide sounded too good to be true in the 1800’s. Personal
computers sounded too good to be true,” he says. “It’s innovation, and the
mining sector has not been one of the most innovative sectors out there.

“The environment will benefit, the mining sector will benefit, our
shareholders will benefit. I think everyone is going to benefit from this.”