Processing centres in artisanal gold mining
Tailings left in processing centres are leached with cyanide. Often, cyanidation is conducted in percolation vats as witnessed in Brazil, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Indonesia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Peru, Tanzania and Zimbabwe (Fig. 2).Without proper aeration, the cyanidation process can last up to 50 days, and gold recovery can be as low as 50%.