Cyanide/Cyanidation

Cyanide has a natural affinity for gold, which dissolves in it just as sugar would in a hot drink. Cyanidation has been the principal method of extracting gold from ore since the development of the MacArthur-Forrest Process in 1887, which proved crucial in the development of the South African gold mining industry.

The perfection of the cyanide process largely replaced amalgamation with mercury that had previously been the main method of extracting gold from ore. Cyanidation has also become crucial since 1970 in gold recovery from low grade deposits through heap leaching. It should be noted that cyanide is extremely toxic and must be handled with special care.