Potential Uses of Artisanal Gold Mine Tailings, with an Emphasis on the Role of Centrifugal Separation Technique

Jeanne Pauline Munganyinka, Jean Baptiste Habinshuti, Jean Claude Ndayishimiye, Levie Mweene, Grace Ofori-Sarpong, Brajendra Mishra, Adelana R. Adetunji and Himanshu Tanvar
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Jeanne Pauline Munganyinka: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, African University of Science and Technology, Abuja 900100, Nigeria
Jean Baptiste Habinshuti: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, African University of Science and Technology, Abuja 900100, Nigeria
Jean Claude Ndayishimiye: Department of Biology, Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, Shenzhen 518172, China
Levie Mweene: Department of Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India
Grace Ofori-Sarpong: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, African University of Science and Technology, Abuja 900100, Nigeria
Brajendra Mishra: Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 01609, USA
Adelana R. Adetunji: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, African University of Science and Technology, Abuja 900100, Nigeria
Himanshu Tanvar: Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 01609, USA

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 13, 1-14

Abstract: Few investigations have focused on the potential uses of artisanal gold (Au) mine tailings, despite the fact that artisanal gold mining activity contributes to environmental issues such as greenhouse gas. Mineralogical characterizations of artisanal gold mine tailings in Miyove gold mine (Baradega and Masogwe) in Rwanda were investigated for potential utilization as a source of valuable gold, using the centrifugal separation technique. Results of X-ray diffraction analysis, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectroscopy, and X-ray fluorescence showed that artisanal gold mine tailings samples have significant amounts of gold to justify economical gold extraction opportunity. The gold grades in the ores and artisanal gold mine tailings were in the ranges of 37–152 and 2–7 g t −1 , respectively. Quartz was a major phase, with minor impurities in two different types of gold ores and their respective tailings. The beneficiation carried out using centrifugal separation, regarded as an extension of gravity separation, showed gold grades in the range of 535–1515 g t −1 for gold ores and 36–302 g t −1 for artisanal gold mine tailings. The gold recoveries for ores and artisanal gold mine tailings were in the range of 21.8–47.3% and 46.9–63.8%, respectively. The results showed that the centrifugal separation technique was more efficient in boosting gold recovery compared to the present panning approach employed at the site, which sometimes recover as low as 10%. The results suggest that mineralogical characterization of artisanal gold mine tailings allows for the development and design of a suitable methods for improving gold ore beneficiation and artisanal gold mine tailings reprocessing.

Keywords: gold mining; artisanal gold mine tailings; centrifugal separation; mineralogical characterization; artisanal and small-scale mining (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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