Endomines and the Finnish water purification technology company Sofi Filtration have successfully implemented the first pilot of the Alchemist technology at the Pampala gold mine processing plant. The Alchemist filtration system is an innovative solution developed by Sofi Filtration that processes the side streams of mines, namely the surplus waters from the processes – and recovers valuable minerals from them that would otherwise go to waste.
“It is generally known that after the final flotation of the concentration process, there is still 1–20% fine concentrate in the filter water. With the Alchemist technology, on average 98% can be recovered. The percentage depends on the site. In the pilot carried out by Endomines, gold recovery was even as high as 99%,” says Sofi Filtration’s Marketing Director Nina Harjula.
The Alchemist operates without chemicals or disposable filters and is capable of separating particles down to 0.3 micrometers in size. The filtration system is self-cleaning and does not disrupt the main process. In the Pampalo pilot, the Alchemist operated seamlessly alongside the enrichment process for the entire production cycle.”We are very satisfied with the pilot results, as of course we want to recover all the gold that can be obtained. More efficient gold recovery from filtration waters improves resource efficiency and also ensures cleaner waters. Every step towards more sustainable mining is significant,” says Ilkka Räty, Production Director of Endomines.
Sofi Filtration and Endomines are continuing their collaboration to utilise process waters. The goal is to recover every last bit of gold from the mines’ surplus water – while also taking care of the environment.
