Up to 89% silver and 87% gold: Kazakhstan has developed a technology for complex ore processing

Gold and silver from the same ore – a domestic technology has found industrial application.

In the Kordai district of the Zhambyl region, specialists have developed a domestic technology for the integrated processing of polymetallic ores at the Gagarinskoye deposit. These developments have already formed the basis for design solutions for the construction of a new mining and processing plant with a capacity of up to 1 million tons of ore per year, inbusiness.kz reports, citing the Ministry of Industry and Construction of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Construction of Kazakhstan, the technology was developed by specialists from the State Scientific and Production Association of Industrial Ecology "Kazmekhanobr," a branch of the National Center on Complex Processing of Mineral Raw Materials of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Research at the deposit began in 2017, and since 2023, work has continued with an emphasis on improving the technology and increasing the efficiency of extracting valuable components.

In the first stage, scientists conducted mineralogical, chemical, and phase studies of the ore. This allowed them to determine the forms of valuable components and select optimal extraction methods. "The key result was a combined gravity-flotation technology. This involves the preliminary extraction of free gold and silver, followed by selective flotation of lead and zinc. The resulting gold-silver-containing product is then sent for hydrometallurgical processing," the ministry explained.*

As a result, specialists obtained several types of concentrates with high content of valuable components.

"The lead concentrate contained 45.29% lead, 67.70 g/t gold, and 1,539.90 g/t silver. The zinc concentrate contained 50.03% zinc, 15.70 g/t gold, and 413.90 g/t silver. The gravity concentrate contained 78.90 g/t gold and 203.10 g/t silver. The gold-silver product contained 3.61 g/t gold and 57.80 g/t silver," the department reported.

Specialists also assessed the efficiency of precious metal recovery across the entire process chain. With intensive cyanidation, the throughput recovery was 86% for gold and 88% for silver. Using the sorption method, the figures reached 87% and 89%, respectively.

Based on the research results, two interconnected process flowsheets were developed: one for combined enrichment and one for hydrometallurgical processing of gold-silver-containing products. Experts believe these processes enable the comprehensive extraction of valuable components and are recommended for industrial use.

The practical implementation of these research findings began at the design stage of the new facility. In 2025, Kazmekhanobr prepared process regulations for the design of a processing plant with a capacity of 1 million tons of ore per year.

"Construction of a mining and processing plant is already underway in the Kordai district. Thus, the results of domestic research are moving directly from the scientific stage to industrial production," the Ministry of Industry and Construction of the Republic of Kazakhstan emphasized.

The launch of this project could facilitate more efficient use of Kazakhstan's mineral resource base and the comprehensive extraction of not only the primary metals – lead and zinc – but also gold and silver from ore. This also paves the way for the introduction of domestic technological developments into the mining and metallurgical industry.

Source: inbusiness.kz