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Mastra Mine, Turkey
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BioteQ provided detailed process design, equipment specifications, construction review, operator training, and commissioning services for a new SART (sulphidization-acidification-recycling-thickening) plant for Koza Gold at the Mastra Mine in Turkey. The plant improves gold yields, reduces processing costs, and enhances the environmental performance of the mine.
The plant incorporates BioteQ’s ChemSulphide® process for metal recovery with SART technology, developed by SGS Lakefield and Teck Corporation, for cyanide regeneration. The process removes and recovers copper from the cyanide leach solution, and regenerates the cyanide for recycle back to the process. The plant is designed to treat up to 120 m3/hr of process solution containing up to 1,500 parts per million of dissolved copper, recover up to 99% of copper from the cyanide solution, and regenerate up to 95% of cyanide for re-use in the gold operation.
The plant enables Koza to meet cyanide limits in its tailings pond, enhancing the overall sustainability profile of the mine by minimizing the use of cyanide in gold recovery. This reduces the risk of potential long term liabilities associated with copper and cyanide-laden waste. In addition, the SART plant improves gold yields, enhances dore purity, and reduces operating costs for gold recovery. The plant was commissioned during the summer of 2010 and is in active operation.
Project Benefits
The application of BioteQ’s technology at the gold mine has a number of process, environmental, and economic benefits. The plant can:
- Remove copper from the gold leach solution, improving the overall metallurgical performance of the gold operation, resulting in enhanced gold yields and gold product purity.
- Regenerate cyanide for the gold leach process, reducing the net consumption of cyanide for gold recovery.
- Reduce operating costs for the gold process by reducing the quantity of cyanide reagent required to extract the gold.
- Remove copper from the environment, reducing environmental liability while producing a saleable copper by-product that creates an incremental revenue stream and offsets treatment costs.
- Maintain regulatory compliance for residual cyanide levels in tailings ponds.