The mining and beneficiation pharmaceutical industry is experiencing accelerated changes driven by multiple factors such as policies, technology, and the market. The traditional sodium cyanide market continues to shrink, and environmentally friendly chemicals are accelerating their substitution under the dual promotion of policy dividends and cost optimization. The concentrated release of demand in emerging gold producing regions such as Central Asia and West Africa is accelerating the globalization layout of leading enterprises. This issue's information will help you sort out recent key trends and developments.
In early March, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced its intention to include sodium cyanide in Annex XIV (Authorized Substances List) of the REACH regulation. Once approved, gold refining companies using cyanide within the EU will face strict authorization approval procedures, and unauthorized companies will not be able to receive gold produced using cyanide from outside the EU.
industry impactMajor global gold refining centers (Switzerland, UK) will accelerate the screening of upstream suppliers, requiring them to provide verifiable proof of cyanide free or low cyanide production. This will be directly transmitted to the selection of beneficiation reagents in major gold producing regions such as South America and Africa.
On March 12th, the Ministry of Natural Resources released a revised explanation for the "National Green Mine Construction Evaluation Indicators (2025 Edition)", which added "the substitution rate of toxic and harmful raw materials in mineral processing technology" as a core assessment item. Require the cyanide substitution rate of newly built gold mines to be no less than 30%, and strive to reach over 50% by 2028.
market reactionMultiple new gold mining projects in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Gansu and other regions have prioritized the use of environmentally friendly beneficiation agents during the feasibility study stage, resulting in a significant increase in demand for thiosulfate and environmentally friendly composite agents.
On March 18th, the mining ministers of Ghana, Mali, and Burkina Faso signed an agreement in Accra, committing to reducing cyanide use in mining areas by 35% by 2030 and establishing a regional certification and mutual recognition mechanism for environmentally friendly mineral processing agents. West Africa is an important global gold producing region, and this move will release tens of thousands of tons of environmentally friendly chemicals to replace demand.
On March 22, the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mines issued Ministerial Order No. 15, which prohibits the construction of gold mining and beneficiation projects using cyanide method from January 1, 2026. Approved projects must complete environmental protection technology transformation before 2028. Indonesia is the fourth largest gold producing country in the world, and this move will have an impact on the investment plans of several international mining companies in the region.
Australian GreenGold company released the latest data on March 15th, stating that its glycine gold extraction technology has been continuously optimized, and the cost of mineral reagents per ton has been reduced to $2.6, narrowing the gap with cyanide method (about $2.4) to $0.2. This is the first substantial breakthrough in cost since the development of this technology.
technical details：
By recovering by-product copper to achieve income hedging, the actual net cost is further reduced by 0.4 US dollars
The leaching rate remains stable at 88-91%, comparable to the cyanide method
Tailings can be directly backfilled without special anti-seepage treatment
industry evaluationThis means that the glycine gold extraction technology has commercial competitiveness and is expected to be rapidly promoted in environmentally sensitive areas, high copper mines, and other scenarios in the next 3-5 years.
On March 17th, CyPlus Canada released its fourth generation thiosulfate stabilizer, which can extend the half-life of the drug in circulating solution from 72 hours to 280 hours, while reducing ammonia volatilization by 80%.
application achievementsIn the industrial application of a high copper gold mine (Cu 2.3%) in Chile, the unit consumption of reagents decreased from 2.8kg/t to 1.5kg/t, and the gold leaching rate remained above 91%, saving more than 4 million US dollars in annual reagent costs.
The "thermophilic bacteria pretreatment+thiourea leaching" technology developed by Mintek Research Institute in South Africa in cooperation with Anglo American Resources has completed pilot testing at a high arsenic gold mine in Ghana. The data shows that:
Total recovery rate: 85.6% (original cyanide method 53%)
Processing time: 7 days of pretreatment+6 hours of leaching
Arsenic stabilization rate: 99.6%, tailings meet environmental standards
Commercial planningWe plan to launch the first industrial demonstration plant in 2026, with a designed annual processing capacity of 1 million tons.
The "arsenic mineral selective inhibitor" jointly developed by Central South University and Shandong Gold has been validated in the laboratory. For high arsenic sulfide ores (As 3-8%), this agent can suppress arsenic in the tailings during the flotation stage, reducing the arsenic content in the gold concentrate from 2.5% to below 0.3%, creating conditions for subsequent environmentally friendly leaching.
Application prospectsChina's high arsenic gold reserves are about 2000 tons, and this technology is expected to activate a large amount of idle resources.
According to the latest data from the General Administration of Customs, the export value of mineral processing agents in China reached 278 million US dollars in January and February 2025, a year-on-year increase of 31%. Among them, the export value of environmentally friendly products (thiosulfate, thiourea, etc.) increased by 42% year-on-year, accounting for 37% of the total export value, setting a new historical high for the same period.
Main export markets：
| region | Export value (USD 10000) | year-on-year growth | Proportion of environmental protection category |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Tajikistan) | 3800 | +52% | 68% |
| West Africa (Ghana, Mali) | 3100 | +38% | 49% |
| South America (Chile, Peru) | 2800 | +26% | 58% |
| Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Myanmar) | 2200 | +44% | 44% |
According to the statistics of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, the domestic market size of mineral processing agents in January and February 2025 is about 740 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.2%. among which
| category | Sales revenue (in billions of yuan) | year-on-year growth | market share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Sodium Cyanide | 5.2 | +0.8% | 70.3% |
| Thiosulfates | 1.3 | +31% | 17.6% |
| Thiourea class | 0.5 | +18% | 6.8% |
| halogens | 0.2 | +33% | 2.7% |
| Other environmental protection categories | 0.2 | +44% | 2.6% |
key trendsThe total proportion of environmental protection has reached 29.7%, an increase of nearly 4 percentage points from the end of last year.
| raw material | Current price (yuan/ton) | Monthly increase | Annual increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liquid alkali (32%) | 1220 | +3.4% | +25% |
| sulfur | 1580 | +4.0% | +28% |
| urea | 1820 | -2.2% | -16% |
| bromine | 24600 | -1.2% | -10% |
| Sodium cyanide | 10000 | +2% | +9% |
Cost transmissionSince March, five domestic mineral processing agent companies have issued price adjustment notices, raising prices for traditional sodium cyanide products by 3-6%, while environmental protection products have not yet followed up due to technological premiums.
On March 12th, Zijin Mining signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Central South University to jointly establish the "Gold Green Extraction Joint Laboratory". The laboratory will focus on environmentally friendly pharmaceutical solutions for difficult to treat gold mines such as high arsenic, high carbon, and micro particle encapsulation, with an initial research and development budget of 50 million yuan.
On March 18th, Chifeng Gold announced a strategic investment of 120 million yuan in a Jiangsu based environmental beneficiation agent company, holding a 25% stake. Both parties will jointly develop a specialized formula for thiosulfate for the high copper gold mine in Vientiane Mining (Laos), with the goal of increasing the recovery rate of associated gold from 82% to over 89%.
On March 15th, Shandong Gold released the "Green Mineral Processing Agent Supply Chain Optimization Plan", which includes the following core contents:
The replacement rate of sodium cyanide in existing mines will reach 30% by 2026 and 50% by 2028
The new project prioritizes the use of environmentally friendly chemicals such as thiosulfate and thiourea
Establish a supplier ESG evaluation system and implement it from 2026 onwards
SolvayOn March 10th, it was announced that an investment of 120 million euros would be made to build a bio based mineral processing agent research and development center in Belgium
BASFOn March 14th, a strategic cooperation memorandum was signed with Barrick Gold to jointly promote the application of thiosulfate technology in African mines
clariant On March 20th, we acquired a Brazilian environmental pharmaceutical company to expand our market share in South America
AshlandAnnouncement of withdrawal from traditional sodium cyanide business and comprehensive shift towards environmentally friendly mineral processing agents
On March 16th, the Navoi Mining Consortium in Uzbekistan issued a bidding announcement to build two new gold mines using cyanide free technology, with a total designed annual processing capacity of 8 million tons. The bidding documents clearly require the use of thiosulfate or thiourea systems, which are expected to release approximately 12000 tons/year of demand for environmentally friendly chemicals.
On March 21st, a Chinese engineering company signed a framework agreement with the Ghanaian government, planning to invest 450 million US dollars to build West Africa's first large-scale gold mine using the "thiourea+resin adsorption" process. The designed annual processing capacity is 5 million tons, and it is expected to be put into operation in 2027.
On March 14th, Chile's National Copper Company announced that it will invest $300 million over the next three years to transform all of its copper containing gold mines into a thiosulfate system. According to estimates, this alone will increase the demand for thiosulfate by approximately 30000 to 40000 tons per year.
With the tightening of policies in major markets such as the European Union, China, and Africa, the exit speed of traditional sodium cyanide will exceed expectations. It is expected that by 2028, the global market share of environmentally friendly mineral processing agents will increase from approximately 25% to over 40%. The policy dividends will be concentrated on top enterprises with advanced technology and sufficient production capacity.
A single technological route is difficult to cope with the complex and ever-changing properties of ores. Multi technology integration solutions such as "pretreatment+environmental leaching", "bio chemical coupling", and "flotation leaching synergy" will become mainstream. Enterprises with comprehensive technical capabilities will gain higher customer stickiness.
With the concentrated release of demand for environmentally friendly chemicals in emerging gold producing areas, coupled with the emphasis on the safety of key mineral supply chains in various countries, localized production of mineral processing agents will become a trend. It is expected that in the next 3-5 years, Chinese pharmaceutical companies will accelerate their production capacity layout in Central Asia, Africa, South America and other regions.
The mining and beneficiation pharmaceutical industry is currently in a critical period of transformation. The four forces of environmental regulation, technological iteration, market demand, and competitive landscape are reshaping the industry landscape.
For pharmaceutical companies, grasping the pace of policies, breaking through key technologies, and deeply cultivating key markets will be the key to winning the future. For mining enterprises, the selection of mineral processing agents is upgrading from "cost considerations" to "strategic decisions" - it not only determines the current economy, but also affects future compliance capabilities and sustainable development space.
The choice of medicine is the choice of the future. 在这场深刻的行业变革中，唯有主动应变者，方能行稳致远。
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