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 JEP  Vol.5 No.6 , May 2014
Mercury-Free Gold Extraction Using Borax for Small-Scale Gold Miners
Peter Wiltje Uitterdijk Appel*, Leoncio Degay Na-Oy
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Abstract: Small-scale gold mining is the largest anthropogenic contributor of mercury pollution on planet Earth. The miners grind gold ore together with mercury in order to recover the fine gold grains. The gold amalgam is burned whereby the mercury evaporates and gold is left behind. This processing extracts only a fraction of the gold in the ore and the released mercury causes serious global health and environmental problems. However, a mercury-free method described below has proved to extract up to twice as much gold without need of investment in new processing equipment and without longer processing time. The method has successfully been tested in the Philippines, Indonesia, Tanzania, Bolivia and Zimbabwe.
Keywords: Small-Scale Mining, Amalgamation, Borax, Gold, Pollution, Mercury Flour
Cite this paper: Appel, P. and Na-Oy, L. (2014) Mercury-Free Gold Extraction Using Borax for Small-Scale Gold Miners. Journal of Environmental Protection, 5, 493-499. doi: 10.4236/jep.2014.56052.
References

[1]   UNEP (2013) Global Mercury Assessment 2013: Sources, Emissions, Releases and Environmental Transport. UNEP Chemicals Branch, Geneva, 271.

[2]   United States Geological Survey USGS (2010) Minerals Yearbook Philippines.
http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/2010/myb3-2010-rp.pdf

[3]   Educational Video Demonstrating the Borax Gold Extraction Process.
http://youtu.be/X6Sawj0HyF0

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