NEWTEK PSA Oxygen Generator Solves The Problem Of Oxygen Supply in Remote Gold Mines

NEWTEK's PSA oxygen generator helps gold leaching and solves the problem of oxygen supply in remote gold mines

In the global gold mining field, efficient extraction of gold from ores and concentrates is very important, and the hydrometallurgical process of leaching gold with cyanide solution occupies the mainstream position. According to the Elsner equation: 4 Au + 8 NaCN + O2 + 2H2O - 4 NaAu (CN) 2 + 4 NaOH, in this electrochemical process, oxygen transfers electrons from gold in the cathode area, and gold ions quickly complex with cyanide in the anode area to form soluble gold-cyanide complexes. In actual operation, the ground ore slurry needs to be mixed with cyanide in the presence of activated carbon, and the high affinity of carbon to the gold-cyanide complex is used to adsorb gold. The gold is then stripped out by high temperature and high pressure treatment, and then the gold bars are recovered by electrolysis. However, insufficient dissolved oxygen in the solution will slow down the leaching speed. Gaseous oxygen must be injected to increase the dissolved oxygen concentration, and the oxygen partial pressure must be increased with the help of a tight oxygen-slurry contactor to make the dissolved oxygen concentration far exceed the saturation level under atmospheric pressure. This urgently requires a reliable on-site oxygen production solution.

The Kalgoorlie gold mine in a remote area of ​​western Australia faces such a dilemma. The gold mine is located in a vast inland desert with geographical coordinates of 30°47′ south latitude and 121°27′ east longitude. It is about 370 meters above sea level and more than 550 kilometers away from the nearest major city, Perth. The surrounding transportation infrastructure is weak and the transportation conditions are extremely inconvenient. It is costly and difficult to achieve stable logistics distribution to transport liquid oxygen from the outside and build cryogenic storage tanks to ensure oxygen supply. The long transportation route not only faces many problems such as complex road conditions and changeable climate, but also may cause interruptions in gold mine production due to transportation delays, seriously affecting mining efficiency.
 

NEWTEK specializes in the generation of nitrogen and oxygen on-site at non-cryogenic temperatures through PSA (pressure swing adsorption) and hollow fiber membrane technology. NEWTEK quickly developed a professional solution to the challenges faced by the Kalgoorlie gold mine. The company uses its proprietary PSA process to precisely separate oxygen from other air gases by passing compressed ambient air through a carefully crafted zeolite molecular sieve (ZMS) bed. The zeolite used is a crystalline, highly porous material with a strong electrostatic field on the inner surface. Due to the fact that nitrogen is more polarizable than oxygen, when nitrogen molecules approach zeolite crystals and expose cations, they form charge-induced dipoles and are adsorbed into the zeolite crystals, while oxygen molecules can pass through unimpeded.

The PSA process operates alternately in two ZMS adsorption tanks: clean compressed air is first introduced to obtain a stable oxygen flow, and the ZMS bed gas flow in the tank is from bottom to top. The gas supply is interrupted before the load is approached to prevent nitrogen breakthrough; after the pressure of the two tanks is balanced, the bottom of the ZMS bed in the sealed tank is exhausted and decompressed for regeneration; the oxygen produced contains 95% vol., and the rest is argon. NEWTEK accurately calibrates the device capacity according to the purity to ensure the oxygen supply for subsequent gold ore leaching and promote efficient and continuous production.

Today, NEWTEK's PSA technology has demonstrated excellent performance in the Kalgoorlie gold mine and many other projects, providing a reliable and efficient solution to the on-site oxygen supply problem in the global gold mining industry, helping mining companies to significantly improve economic benefits and promote the development of industry technology. In the future, NEWTEK will continue to conduct in-depth research, continuously optimize and upgrade technologies and products, and continue to write a brilliant and innovative chapter in gold mining and more related fields.

On-site PSA oxygen generator gold mine solution

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