A new cyanide recycling technology slated to deliver both economic gains and environmental benefits for gold mining is ready for pilot-scale demonstrations.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) revealed earlier in October 2025 that its scientists, Dr Paul Breur and Dr Xianwen Dai, have developed and patented a technology that improves gold recovery while recycling toxic cyanide.
Called the Sustainable Gold Cyanidation Technology, its development comes as Australia continues to surge as a global force in gold supply, with cyanide being a critical, but also harmful, tool in the mineral’s recovery process.
Dai, who validated the technology’s process chemistry and economic scale during a month-long mini-piloting campaign, said that the innovation is a leap forward for gold processors.
“Our process surpasses the commonly practised cyanide destruction technology, and we are now ready for a pilot-scale demonstration in the field,” he said.
CSIRO said that the gold mining industry today reduces the environmental risks by destroying cyanide in the process tailings before discharge to tailings storage facilities.
The organisation added that this development “further reduces” the level of toxic compounds left in the tailings and the amount of cyanide needed to be transported to the site.
“This technology enables the recovery of cyanide and other toxic compounds, some base metals and valuable soluble gold that typically remains unrecovered in cyanidation tailings,” Dai said.
“At the same time, it reduced environmental risks and costs linked to cyanide use, transport, tailing storage, and potential dam failures.”
A previous gold sustainability breakthrough was achieved by CSIRO, with Breuer and his team producing Australia’s first cyanide-free gold, replacing cyanide with thiosulphate (non-toxic) and winning the 2014 Australian Mining Prospect Award.
Breuer said that CSIRO partnered with Eco Minerals Research to build a mobile processing demonstration plant based in Menzies, Western Australia.
“The plant enabled us to trial and improve the process to ensure it was robust and practical at scale for commercial operation,” he said.
Both Breuer and Dai are seeking industry partners for pilot projects and have said that they are open to collaborations with gold producers, engineering firms, and suppliers.
“The technology can deliver much greater economic and environmental benefits beyond what is possible with current cyanide recovery and recycling technologies,” Breuer said.
“With sufficient interest, we will be able to progress to pilot and demonstration in the field, which will hopefully lead to improved gold yields, environmental outcomes and sustainability for the gold industry.”
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