CSIRO has produced gold using a non-toxic chemical process without cyanide and mercury.

The gold is the result of early industry trials of CSIRO's 'going for gold' technology and was produced in partnership with small gold miner Eco Minerals Research at a demonstration plant in the Western Australian goldfields town of Menzies.

Cyanide is used in more than 90 per cent of global gold production, but producers are facing increasingly tough regulations that prevent or restrict its use due to environmental and health concerns.

In response to recent spills of toxic cyanide, several regional agencies in the United States, South America and Europe have banned the use of cyanide for gold extraction.

The new technology replaces cyanide with thiosulphate, a non-toxic alternative, and a simple process flowsheet.

The CSIRO research team behind the innovation has already had commercial success with another tailored cyanide-free gold solution developed with Barrick Gold specifically for their Goldstrike Mine in Nevada where it has been used for nearly four years to maintain production rates.

The $2.1 million demonstration project was made possible through $860,000 in funding from the Science and Industry Endowment fund (SIEF) and an Australian Government Innovation Connections grant.

To reduce economic barriers to entry for small producers and help turn stranded gold deposits into production, CSIRO's vision is to deliver the alternative process technology direct to mine sites via a mobile service.

A typical cyanide-based processing plant costs around $30 million, whereas the new technology has a lower capital investment costing as little as $2-2.5 million to build.                                                              

More information is available here.