Mercury-Free Initiative Yields Positive Results

RAPAPORT… Nonprofit organization Mercury Free Mining (MFM) will refine and further test equipment that may eliminate the use of mercury in gold processing following positive trial results.

Small-scale miners in Ghana used Goldrop, a new separation process created by Sluice Goose Industries, in their daily mining activities over a 10-day period. Results were monitored by MFM together with the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners (GNASSM).

Ghanaian technical experts will now visit the Goldrop factory in Oregon to refine its effectiveness on the hard rock and alluvial ore commonly found at Ghana’s small mining sites, GNASSM technical director Festus Adomako Kusi noted last week. The group will then run further tests on the equipment’s effectiveness.

“[MFM] is enthusiastic about GNASSM’s endorsement of the Goldrop processor,” said MFM executive director Toby Pomeroy. “We are also encouraged by GNASSM’s commitment to help refine the process.”

Mercury is used by approximately 15 million artisanal and small-scale miners around the world to separate gold particles from the surrounding ore, MFM said. In July, the nonprofit organized a global challenge to the industry, promising a $1 million prize for an idea that could eliminate the use of mercury in gold mining.


Image: Experts from GNASSM demonstrate the Goldrop machine and process in Ghana. (Mercury Free Mining)