South africa relies mainly on coal for its energy needs. In addition, the country is one of the main producers of gold. Both coal combustion and gold mining are sources of mercury pollution, contributing to South africa being one of the leading countries in terms of mercury emissions to the environment1. The human

While mercury amalgamation has been used for thousands of years to mine gold and silver, 2 it is unfortunately still a widespread technique in present-day artisanal gold mining. Mercury is abundant and inexpensive, sourced through a variety of industrial supply chains or mined directly from cinnabar, making it a readily available tool for ...

DOI: 10.1007/s10661-015-5059-4 Corpus ID: 24673427; Mercury speciation and dispersion from an active gold mine at the West Wits area, South Africa @article{LusilaoMakiese2015MercurySA, title={Mercury speciation and dispersion from an active gold mine at the West Wits area, South Africa}, author={Julien Lusilao-Makiese and Emmanuel Tessier and David Amouroux and …

A systematic review of gold extraction: Fundamentals, advancements, and challenges toward alternative lixiviants August 2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 440(6):129778

While lead exposure continues to claim lives in Namibia and Zambia, mercury plagues the gold-diggers and artisanal miners of Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. At room …

In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), unregulated artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) contributes up to 20% of global gold production and uses 205–496 tonnes/yr of Hg.

Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, gold mining sites—in particular, ASGM sites—often fail to comply with labor and mining regulations. Workers who mine gold lack proper equipment and training, they handle mercury and other toxic substances, and they suffer mine accidents and injuries; children work in and around the mines; women are prohibited ...

In South Africa, mercury is a contaminant of major concern due to it being released into the environment through artisanal gold mining and the coal combustion process at power stations.

The impact of historical use of mercury (Hg) for the extraction of gold was assessed in watersheds from an abandoned mine in Randfonetin, a town located at 45 km west of Johannesburg (South Africa), which has a long history of gold mining, and its surroundings.The majority of analyzed waters at the site were acidic with pH ranging between 2.9 and 5.0.

The miners will also mix harmful substances like mercury with water to extract the gold they find. ... The standards make sure "your Ghanaian refinery is as good as your South African refinery ...

Mercury concentrations Fractions Gold mining Legacy amalgam Tailing dams Soil Sediment Water Speciation abstract ... South Africa, gold mine tailings dams occupies large areas (about

USA, South Africa is ranked second.3 South Africa is also a major producer of gold but production has declined from between 600 and 700 t in 1985 to between 300 and 400 t in 2004.4 Since 2007, China has surpassed South Africa as the world's largest gold producer.5 It is estimated that gold production from large and small-scale mining in Africa

About nine million Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) workers in Africa and people living near ASGM activities are highly exposed to geogenic and anthropogenic potentially toxic elements (PTEs). Despite the hazards and risks posed by ASGM being well characterized, coordinated multidisciplinary environmental characterization with combined …

Gold mining operations in South Africa mainly use the MacArthur Forrest process that uses cyanide instead of mercury amalgamation for extraction (Naicker et al., 2003). However, there are traces of Hg in the ore that could be released during processing but the overall emission is considered small ( Leaner et al., 2009 ).

Gold mining in South Africa over the centuries has resulted in the ... The burning of the amalgam leads to vaporization of the elemental mercury into a toxic plume leaving the gold behind. Mercury amalgamation was the initial method used for centuries to process gold and is still in use today by artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM ...

Mintek has developed a process called iGoli Mercury-free Gold Extraction Process that can be used to extract gold from 0.1 % gold concentrate to produce 99.90 percent gold product.

Determination of mercury and its fractionation products in samples from legacy use of mercury amalgam in gold processing in Randfontein, South Africa ... (UNEP) endorsed the Minamata Convention on Mercury. Gold mining is one …

While Western countries, including the United States, have largely phased out mercury, more than 10 million people in 70 countries — mostly poorer nations across Asia, Africa and Latin America ...

About nine million Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) workers in Africa and people living near ASGM activities are highly exposed to geogenic and anthropogenic potentially toxic elements ...

Total mercury (HgTOT) concentrations were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP MS) for South African Highveld coals. The distribution of Hg in coals was investigated using a four-stage sequential leaching protocol and isotope dilution/gas chromatography coupled to ICP MS (ID-GC-ICP MS). The results show that HgTOT ranged …

The impact of historical use of mercury (Hg) for the extraction of gold was assessed in watersheds from an abandoned mine in Randfonetin, a town located at 45 km west of Johannesburg (South Africa), which has a long history of gold mining, and its surroundings.The majority of analyzed waters at the site were acidic with pH ranging between 2.9 and 5.0.

The impact of historical use of mercury (Hg) for the extraction of gold was assessed in watersheds from an abandoned mine in Randfonetin, a town located at 45 km west of …

For example, the method that is widely used in South Africa for extraction of gold is the cyanidation process which uses cyanide. 19 The process involves dissolution of gold from the ore in a dilute cyanide solution and extraction of the gold in a complex in the presence of lime and oxygen. Cyanide is a very fast-acting poison that prevents ...

The amount of mercury lost to the atmosphere by this mechanism appears to be less than 200 kg per year throughout the gold-mining industry in South Africa. Virtually no mercury vapour could …

concentrations of mercury were found at any stage of the process. The amount of mercury lost to the atmosphere by this mechanism appears to be less than 200 kg per year through-out the gold-mining industry in South Africa. . . . ... Virtually no mercury vapour could be detected m the air m the smelt-hc;>use. Slight mc~eases I~mercury concen-

mining mostly occurs in a region known as the Witwatersrand Basin, and 98% of South Af. ican gold is mined from this region. Initially, a mercury amalgam method was used for gold …

One of the most important aquifers in South Africa (SA) is the dolomitic aquifer of the West Rand and Far West Rand area which commence south of Johannesburg and pass beyond Carletonville to Orkney in the West (McCarthy and Rubidge 2005; Lusilao et al. 2014).Although gold mining industry is still considered as the basis of the economy and socio …

Abstract Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) utilizes mercury (Hg) for the extraction of gold (Au) and is responsible for the largest anthropogenic source of emissions and releases of Hg to the environment. Previous estimates of Hg use in ASGM have varied widely. In this effort, Hg losses in ASGM were derived from the difference between estimates of total Au …

In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), unregulated artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) contributes up to 20% of global gold production and uses 205–496 tonnes/yr of Hg.

Ninety five percents of SA's gold mines are underground operations, reaching depths of over 3.8 km. Coupled with declining grades, increased depth of mining and a slide in the gold price, …