A UK-based gold extraction technology company, Cycladex, is set to deploy its carbon-cutting equipment at a gold mine in Mauritania after signing a non-exclusive license with India-based miner and processor MCME.
MCME has already started ordering key pieces of manufacturing equipment based on the Cycladex processing plant in Arizona. The technology, according to Cycladex, reduces gold recovery time scales and uses 50% less water which enables gold miners to “avoid land contamination.”
Cycladex said the technology can be implemented on existing facilities, and operators can avoid “costly charges. Additionally, it allows for “formerly uneconomic deposits,” such as tailings and refractory ores, to be “brought into production.”
Small and inexpensive footprint
According to Anil Reddy, chief executive officer of MCME, Cycladex’s Arizona plant could be on a “small and inexpensive footprint” with little water usage. The technology “represents the future of the industry” due to environmental policies and imperatives.
MCME will establish a Cycladex plant with a daily capacity of 300 to 500 tonnes, with the primary objective being to reduce processing time, water usage and carbon footprint. The technology will be implemented on the Mauritania plant, which, according to Reddy, will be operational by the summer of 2022.
Mining, which is one of the country’s most important sectors to the national economy, contributes about 12% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and represent more than one-half of the country’s export earnings. According to the Ministère des Mines et de l’industrie (MMi), the development, diversification, and promotion of the mining sector have become the government’s priority in recent years. The number of foreign companies applying for prospecting licenses was increasing, and projects were at various stages ranging from grassroots exploration to mine development
