Multiple heavyweight policies have entered the implementation or transitional stage, and the mining and beneficiation pharmaceutical industry has ushered in a new round of transformation window. The "Green Mine Construction Standards (Revised Edition 2025)" in China have officially come into effect, the EU cyanide authorization process has entered the preparation period for enterprises, and Ghana's cyanide import permit system has begun to be implemented. At the same time, market data for the first quarter has been released one after another, and it has been confirmed that the share of environmentally friendly mineral processing agents has exceeded 30% for the first time. This issue's news will summarize the latest developments of the week for you.
Starting from April 1st, the "Green Mine Construction Standards (Revised Edition 2025)" issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources officially came into effect. This is the largest revision of the standard in 8 years of implementation, with core changes including:
Add quantitative indicatorsThe green substitution rate of mineral processing reagents has been included in the national evaluation system for the first time
Phased objectivesThe proportion of environmentally friendly chemicals used in new mines shall not be less than 30%, and shall reach 50% by 2028; Existing mines need to be replaced by 30% by 2027
veto itemMines that do not meet the substitution rate requirements are not eligible to participate in the evaluation of national level green mines
industry impactAccording to preliminary statistics from the China Gold Association, about 320 gold mines across the country will be directly affected. It is expected that more than 50 mines will start environmental protection transformation of mineral processing technology within 2025, driving an increase of about 15-20% in demand for environmentally friendly mineral processing agents.
On April 2nd, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) released guidelines for cyanide authorization applications, clarifying the requirements for application materials, review process, and timeline. Enterprises are required to submit authorization applications before September 2025, and unauthorized individuals are not allowed to use cyanide within the European Union from September 2026 onwards.
market reactionThe three major gold refineries in Switzerland (Valcambi, PAMP, Argor Heraeus) announced this week that they will increase their requirements for "cyanide free/low cyanide production certificates" for upstream mines and plan to complete environmental audits of their main suppliers by the end of 2025.
On April 1st, the Ghana Mining Commission began implementing the cyanide import permit system. The first batch of applying enterprises need to submit materials such as previous year's usage data, alternative plan, environmental monitoring report, etc. The committee stated that the import quota for 2025 will be reduced by 5% on the basis of the previous year.
Supply chain impactGhana is the largest gold producing country in Africa, with an annual cyanide import volume of approximately 35000 tons. After the implementation of the licensing system, it is expected to release approximately 15000 to 20000 tons/year of demand for environmentally friendly chemical alternatives, with thiosulfate and thiourea becoming the main beneficiaries.
On April 3rd, the Australian federal government released the "Tailings Management Guidelines (2025 Edition)", requiring all newly built tailings ponds to undergo "non-toxic design", which means that tailings must not contain persistent toxic substances. The operational tailings pond needs to be renovated or a closure plan developed before 2030.
industry evaluationAustralia is a global benchmark for mining environmental standards, and this move will further promote the application of cyanide free/low cyanide beneficiation processes in major gold producing areas such as Western Australia.
According to data released by the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association on April 3, the domestic market size of mineral processing agents in the first quarter of 2025 is approximately1.21 billion yuanYear-on-year growth8.5%Among them:
| category | Sales revenue (in billions of yuan) | year-on-year growth | market share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Sodium Cyanide | 8.3 | +0.8% | 68.6% |
| Thiosulfates | 2.2 | +32% | 18.2% |
| Thiourea class | 0.8 | +18% | 6.6% |
| halogens | 0.3 | +35% | 2.5% |
| Other environmental protection categories | 0.5 | +44% | 4.1% |
Key ConfirmationThe total proportion of environmental protection categories has reached31.4%Compared to the whole year of 2024, it has increased by 5.2 percentage points, breaking through the 30% mark for the first time. This is a historic turning point in the industry.
According to data released by the General Administration of Customs on April 4th, the export value of mineral processing agents in China reached in the first quarter of 2025480 million US dollarsYear-on-year growth32%The export value of environmental protection products increased year-on-year44%, as a percentage of the total export value40.2%Breaking through 40% for the first time.
Regional export data (Q1)：
| region | Export value (USD 10000) | year-on-year growth | Proportion of environmental protection category |
|---|---|---|---|
| Five Central Asian countries | 6500 | +54% | 73% |
| West Africa | 5600 | +40% | 54% |
| South America | 5200 | +28% | 62% |
| Southeast Asia | 4000 | +44% | 48% |
| other | 2500 | +20% | 35% |
In the first week of April, the domestic market price of mineral processing agents was:
| product | Price (yuan/ton) | Zhou's ups and downs | Monthly fluctuation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sodium cyanide | 10300 | +1.0% | +4.0% |
| sodium thiosulfate | 6100 | -0.5% | -1.6% |
| thiourea | 18300 | -0.5% | -2.1% |
| Sodium bromide | 18400 | -0.3% | -0.8% |
trendTraditional products continue to rise in price due to environmental restrictions and rising raw material prices; Due to the maturity of technology and expansion of production capacity, the price of environmentally friendly products has remained stable with a slight decrease, further narrowing the cost gap between the two.
On April 2nd, Zijin Mining announced that its Congo (Kinshasa) Kolwezi copper cobalt mine associated gold recovery project had completed industrial validation of thiosulfate specific reagents, with a gold recovery rate of 91.8%, an increase of 14 percentage points compared to the original cyanide method. The project consumes approximately 8000 tons of environmentally friendly chemicals annually, all of which are supplied by strategic partners.
On April 3rd, Shandong Gold announced that its main mines such as Sanshan Island, Jiaojia, and Xincheng have completed the bidding for mineral processing reagents for the year 2025. For the first time in this bidding process, a "green substitution rate" bonus point has been added, and the procurement ratio of environmental protection agents is required to be no less than 35%. In the end, environmentally friendly products such as thiosulfate and thiourea accounted for 38% of the winning bid amount, an increase of 12 percentage points from the previous year.
On April 1st, the Hunan Yueyang Environmental Protection Mineral Processing Agent Production Base, with a total investment of 1.2 billion yuan by Sinochem Blue Sky, officially started construction. The project plans to produce 50000 tons of thiosulfate and 30000 tons of environmentally friendly composite agents annually. It is expected to be put into operation in Q2 2026 and will become one of the largest production bases for environmentally friendly mineral processing agents in China.
BASFOn April 3rd, it was announced that a thiosulfate supply agreement had been signed with a gold mine in Tanzania, with an annual supply of 5000 tons and a term of 5 years
SolvayOn April 4th, the first quarter financial report was released, and the revenue of the environmental beneficiation agent business increased by 38% year-on-year, becoming the fastest-growing business sector
clariant On April 1st, the acquisition and integration of distributors in Peru were completed, and a complete set of environmentally friendly mineral processing agent product lines were officially launched in the South American market
On April 2nd, GreenGold, an Australian company, released its second-generation glycine gold extraction aid, claiming to shorten leaching time by 20% and reduce reagent consumption by another 15%. The company stated that the second-generation product has been tested in three gold mines in Western Australia, with an average leaching rate of 90.5% and a comprehensive cost lower than the cyanide method.
The Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced on April 4 that it had successfully screened an acidophilic strain that could efficiently oxidize sulfide at normal temperature (25-35 ℃). This strain can lower the biological pretreatment temperature from 70 ℃ to 30 ℃, reduce energy consumption by 60%, and provide a low-cost solution for the biological pretreatment of difficult to treat gold mines.
The thiosulfate electrochemical regeneration technology jointly developed by Beijing University of Science and Technology and Shandong Gold has been validated in the laboratory. This technology can regenerate the consumed thiosulfate in real time during the leaching process, reducing the consumption of reagents by another 30% and completely solving the problem of ammonia volatilization.
On April 3rd, the Navoi Mining Consortium in Uzbekistan announced that its cyanide free gold mine project has received a loan of 250 million US dollars from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The total investment of the project is 520 million US dollars, with a designed annual processing capacity of 10 million tons, using thiosulfate technology, and is expected to be put into operation in 2027.
On April 1st, the Ghana Mining Commission issued the first batch of cyanide import permits, with quotas reduced by 5% compared to the previous year. At the same time, the committee stated that it has received alternative solutions for environmental protection agents from 12 companies, with thiosulfate and thiourea solutions accounting for over 80%.
Chile's National Copper Company announced on April 2nd that the thiosulfate process renovation project at its Chuquicamata copper mine has officially started and is expected to be completed by March 2026. After the completion of this project, the annual use of cyanide will be reduced by 3000 tons, and the demand for thiosulfate will be increased by 6000 tons.
April 7-9The China Gold Association will hold the "2025 National Gold Processing and Metallurgy Technology Exchange Conference" in Beijing, with key topics including the application of environmentally friendly beneficiation agents and the progress of difficult to treat gold ore technology
April 10thThe London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) will release a new draft of the "Responsible Gold Guidelines" for comments, which is expected to add restrictions on the use of cyanide
April 11The National Bureau of Statistics will release industrial product price data for March, and the trend of raw material prices related to mineral processing agents is worth paying attention to
April 12thGhana Mining Commission will announce the first batch of cyanide import permit companies and quotas
In the first week of April, multiple heavyweight policies entered the implementation stage, marking the official transition of the green transformation of the mining and beneficiation pharmaceutical industry from "initiative" to "implementation". For pharmaceutical companies, the policy window is narrowing, and those with leading technology, sufficient production capacity, and global layout will have the advantage. For mining companies, the selection of mineral processing agents is becoming a key variable affecting compliance capabilities, operating costs, and ESG ratings.
At this turning point, speed determines position, and choice determines the future.
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