Our eco-friendly gold ore leaching agent delivers industry-leading extraction rates — without cyanide. A drop-in replacement for sodium cyanide that works with your existing equipment, process, and infrastructure.
Cyanide leaching has underpinned gold extraction for over a century. But the regulatory environment, community expectations, and the economics of safer alternatives have reached a tipping point. The question is no longer whether to switch — it's how quickly operations can do it.
Sodium cyanide is acutely toxic at very low concentrations. Spills contaminate groundwater for years, harm aquatic ecosystems, and expose workers to life-threatening risk. Regulators across Africa, Asia, and Europe are tightening controls, raising the cost and complexity of cyanide-based operations every year.
Artisanal and small-scale miners often lack the safety infrastructure, storage facilities, and regulatory permits to handle hazardous chemicals. An effective, low-toxicity leaching agent removes these barriers entirely — making compliant, efficient gold recovery accessible to a much wider range of operations.
Eco-friendly leaching agents are now proven across heap leaching, pool leaching, and carbon slurry (CIL/CIP) processes, on gold-bearing quartz veins, oxide ores, sulfide concentrates, cyanide tailings, and mixed ores. Recovery rates that match or exceed cyanide mean there's no technical reason to accept the old risks.
Mining companies are under growing pressure from investors, lenders, and communities to demonstrate Environmental, Social, and Governance accountability. Switching to a non-toxic, biodegradable leaching agent is one of the most direct and demonstrable improvements an operation can make to its ESG profile.
Our leaching agent is formulated from sodium oxide, nitrogen, iron, sulfur, ammonium, calcium, and chloride compounds. It achieves gold dissolution through a fundamentally safer chemical pathway, and its breakdown products pose no lasting environmental hazard.
Contains no sodium cyanide or derivatives. Dramatically reduces acute toxicity risk to workers, surrounding communities, and local water systems — and removes the regulatory burden of cyanide storage and handling.
Unlike cyanide, which persists in soil and water for extended periods, our agent breaks down without leaving residual toxic compounds. Tailings and treated liquids do not require the same long-term containment as cyanide-process waste.
Return water from the leaching cycle retains residual reagent value and can be recycled back into production after replenishment, minimising freshwater draw, effluent discharge volume, and ongoing reagent cost.
Leached tailings can be washed with clean water or lime water and treated with bleaching powder, allowing sites to meet environmental standards. There is no need for specialised cyanide destruction infrastructure.
Because the agent and its by-products are low-toxicity, wastewater treatment is far simpler and less costly than for cyanide-bearing effluent. This translates directly to lower operating expenditure across the full leaching cycle.
Non-flammable, non-explosive, non-oxidising, and non-radioactive. Classified as ordinary cargo — ships by road, rail, sea, and air with no dangerous goods premiums, permits, or specialist handling required.
Safety and sustainability alone are not enough. This agent was designed to outperform on every operational metric that matters to a gold mining operation — from recovery rate to cycle time to cost per ounce.
Works with existing cyanidation equipment and process lines without modification. No need to change tanks, carbon circuits, or monitoring instruments — switch the reagent, keep everything else.
Leaching results match or exceed sodium cyanide across oxidised, sulfide, and mixed ore types. The agent effectively solubilises gold ions across the full range of typical ore grades and compositions.
Faster reaction kinetics reduce the time ore spends in the leach circuit. For heap and pool operations, this means quicker pad turnaround; for CIL/CIP, it means shorter retention time per tank.
Demonstrated ability to reduce the inhibiting effects of harmful impurities — particularly arsenic and sulfur compounds — that commonly suppress gold dissolution in complex or refractory ore types.
Activated carbon adsorbs gold selectively from the leach solution, including when copper is present. This separation behaviour is a direct advantage in polymetallic ores where copper and gold occur together.
Performs effectively across a temperature range of 10°C to 35°C, making it suitable for operations in tropical, sub-tropical, and high-altitude environments without process heating requirements.
Dosage as low as 100 g per tonne of ore for well-characterised ores; up to 1,500 g/t for complex or high-grade material. Consumption calibrated by ore properties means no wasted reagent and predictable monthly costs.
Both pregnant solution and barren solution from the leaching circuit can be reused after reagent replenishment. This closed-loop approach materially reduces total reagent consumption per ounce of gold produced.
Savings accumulate across purchasing, transport, storage, safety infrastructure, wastewater treatment, and regulatory compliance. In many operations the total cost of ownership is measurably lower than an equivalent cyanide-based circuit.
Suitable for artisanal and small-scale operations running single pool leach setups through to large heap leaching projects processing hundreds of thousands of tonnes per year. The process scales linearly.
The agent is applied identically to the cyanide process it replaces. Whether you run heap leaching, pool leaching, or a CIL/CIP carbon slurry circuit, the steps are the same — with none of the hazardous chemical handling.
Lime, caustic soda, or another alkali raises ore pile or pulp pH to 10–12. The slightly alkaline environment is required for the agent to activate and dissolve gold ions effectively.
Dissolve the agent in clean water to 0.03–0.1% for heap/pool leaching, or prepare a 10–15% solution for direct addition to CIL/CIP stirring tanks. The agent dissolves fully at ambient temperature.
For heap and pool leaching, spray or flood-irrigate the ore. For carbon slurry, add the prepared solution or solid directly to the agitation tank. Optimal results above 10°C ambient temperature.
Measure reagent concentration in the solution at regular intervals using the test method supplied with the product. Top up promptly when concentration drops to maintain peak gold dissolution.
Recover gold via activated carbon adsorption (preferred) or zinc replacement. Return water is recycled after reagent replenishment. Wash tailings with clean or lime water; treat with bleaching powder if required.
Real-world leaching tests across multiple ore types in Tanzania, Sudan, Egypt, and Southeast Asia consistently show that eco-friendly leaching agents match or exceed cyanide performance — with a fundamentally better safety and compliance profile.
| Criterion | Goldwen eco-friendly agent | Sodium cyanide (NaCN) |
|---|---|---|
| Toxicity classification | ✓ Low-toxicity, ordinary chemical | ✗ Acutely toxic, hazardous substance |
| Biodegradability | ✓ Biodegrades — no residual toxicity | ✗ Persistent in soil and water |
| Transport classification | ✓ Ordinary cargo — road, rail, sea, air | ✗ Dangerous goods — restricted, costly |
| Storage requirements | ✓ Sealed, cool, dry — standard warehouse | ✗ Specialist secure storage with gas detection |
| Regulatory complexity | ✓ Low — no hazardous chemical permits | ✗ High — permits, end-user certs, audits |
| Worker safety risk | ✓ Minimal — no HCN off-gassing risk | ✗ Significant — HCN gas lethal at low ppm |
| Gold leaching efficiency | ✓ Matches or exceeds NaCN across most ores | Reference standard |
| Leaching cycle duration | ✓ Faster — shorter pad/tank retention time | Baseline |
| Arsenic/sulfur interference | ✓ Reduced — more stable performance | ✗ Sensitive to complex ore impurities |
| Equipment changes needed | ✓ None — direct replacement in existing circuit | N/A — existing baseline |
| Effluent treatment | ✓ Simple wash / bleaching powder treatment | ✗ Dedicated cyanide destruction circuit |
| ESG / investor compliance | ✓ Aligns with green mining & ESG frameworks | ✗ Increasing lender and investor scrutiny |
| Active ingredient | ≥ 95% | 98%+ (NaCN) |
| Packaging | 25 kg moisture-proof bags, 40 bags/pallet | Specialist sealed drums or briquette bags |
Full MSDS documentation is included with every order. Contact our technical team for any process questions before or during your production run.
Ask the technical team
| Form | White powder or granules (easily soluble) |
|---|---|
| Active ingredient | ≥ 95% |
| pH (1% solution) | 9.0 – 11.0 |
| Main ingredients | Sodium oxide, nitrogen, iron, sulfur, ammonium, calcium, chloride |
| Net weight per bag | 25 kg (± 0.2 kg) |
| Pallet unit | 40 bags = 1 tonne per pallet |
| OEM / custom labelling | Supported |
| MSDS | Included with every order |
| Flammability | Non-flammable |
| Explosiveness | Non-explosive |
| Oxidising risk | Non-oxidising |
| Radioactivity | Non-radioactive |
| Transport modes | Road, rail, sea, air, courier |
| Working pH | 10 – 12 (adjusted with lime or caustic soda) |
|---|---|
| Optimal temperature | 10°C – 35°C (leaching active above 10°C) |
| Agent dosage | 100 – 1,500 g per tonne of ore |
| Heap / pool spray concentration | 0.03 – 0.1% (mass) |
| CIL/CIP slurry concentration | 0.03 – 0.1% maintained in leach circuit |
| CIL/CIP dosing solution | 10 – 15% solution, or direct solid addition |
| Leaching processes | Heap leaching, pool leaching, CIL, CIP |
| Gold recovery method | Activated carbon adsorption (preferred), zinc replacement |
| Silver ores | Compatible |
| Sulfide ores | Compatible |
| Cyanide tailings | Compatible |
| Cyanide circuit compatibility | Can be used alongside cyanide circuits |
| Return water reuse | Supported after reagent replenishment |
These are the questions our technical team hears most often from prospective customers. If yours isn't answered here, include it in your quote request and we'll respond directly.
No. The agent is a direct process replacement for sodium cyanide. Your existing tanks, carbon circuits, pumps, monitoring equipment, and infrastructure all continue to be used without modification. The switch is reagent-only.
Comparative tests on oxidised gold ores, primary sulfide ores, and mixed ores consistently show the agent matching or exceeding the gold leaching rate achieved with sodium cyanide under the same conditions. Results vary by ore type — contact us with your ore details for a closer assessment.
Ore mineralogy determines the right process. Gold-bearing quartz vein and oxidised ores generally suit heap leaching, pool leaching, or CIL/CIP. Polymetallic and complex sulfide ores may benefit from pre-concentration by gravity or flotation before leaching. For visible gold, gravity equipment should be used for pre-recovery.
Leaching is active above 10°C. At temperatures between 10°C and 35°C the agent performs at full efficiency. Operations in colder environments should account for this when scheduling leaching campaigns, or consider low-cost solution warming measures for heap pads in winter months.
Return water — which contains residual reagent and trace gold — is recycled back into the circuit after reagent replenishment. There is no waste stream. Leached tailings are washed with clean water or lime water; bleaching powder treatment achieves environmental compliance in most jurisdictions, with no specialist cyanide destruction plant required.
Store in a cool, dry, sealed location in standard warehouse conditions. Keep isolated from other chemicals and food products. The product absorbs moisture readily and must remain sealed until use. No specialist ventilation, gas monitoring, or hazardous materials handling certification is required.
Prepare a 10–15% solution in water and dose continuously into the leach circuit, or add the solid directly to the first agitation tank. Monitor concentration in the slurry at regular intervals and top up when it falls below 0.03–0.1%. Our supplied test method makes this straightforward on-site.
Yes — and activated carbon is the preferred recovery method. The agent produces a leach solution from which activated carbon selectively adsorbs gold, including in the presence of copper. This selective behaviour is an advantage in complex polymetallic ores, simplifying downstream copper-gold separation.
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