How we mine the gold

The heap leaching process being employed at Lomati Mine is a commonly used process to extract gold from the ore.

Generally, the ore is crushed into fine particles before being heaped and sprayed with a leaching solution which liquefies and separates the gold from the ore.

Our process at Lomati Mine begins with trenches being dug and soil samples being taken at specific intervals within the trenches to test the quality of the ore along that channel. 

Once the laboratory has ascertained that the ore is of the required quality, the ore is then excavated from the ground and transported to the Feed 

From the Feed Bin the ore goes through a Jaw Crusher which breaks and reduces the ore. The crushed ore is then dropped onto a conveyor belt. 

The belt transports the crushed ore along the conveyer where cement is added to mix it with dry ore.

The conveyor belt takes the crushed ore peppered with cement to a High Frequency Vibrating Screen. 

This screen is used to separate the oversize ore from the fines before the crushed ore proceeds to the Agglomerator.

The agglomerator is a rotating hollow drum which tumbles material and sprays strictly controlled amounts of water onto the spinning mixture of cements and crushed ore to create artificial rocks of ore fines.

Agglomerating the ore fines ensures that the ore particles are more uniform and thus making it easier for the leaching solution to travel the channels between particles to help maximise 

The agglomerated crushed ore is then transported to the Leach Pad. This pad has a base of plastic sheeting and the ore is heaped on top of it. 

Once the ore has been heaped to the required level, a sprinkler system is then laid along the top of the ore pile through which a solution of diluted cyanide is sprayed.

The cyanide percolates down through the heap, leaching out the gold.This process may take several days for the solution to percolate through the ore. 

The gold is now stripped from the carbon by circulating a strong caustic cyanide and alcohol solution through the column and through an electrowinning cell that plates the gold onto the cell cathodes.

When all the gold has been stripped from the carbon and deposited on the cathodes the cathodes are removed and the gold washed into the bottom of the electrowinning cell where it is filtered and dried ready for final smelting into a gold bar.