US-based 6th Wave Innovations has launched the new IXOS nanotechnology bead for the gold mining industry.

The new molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) ion exchange resin is expected to increase gold mining profits by around $100 per ounce in processing savings.

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Each IXOS bead is imprinted at the molecular level to attract gold and ignore the other elements leached off in mining operations.

The IXOS resin bead does not require activation step for reuse and is supplied ready-to-use, with a range of particle sizes available to accommodate heap leach and resin-in-leach/pulp circuits.

"It works well under very challenging conditions and appears to be more highly selective for gold than carbon."

Gold mining engineering firm Jack Rabbit Consulting principal process engineer and president Susan Ritz said: "6th Wave's resin technology has great potential.

"It works well under very challenging conditions and appears to be more highly selective for gold than carbon. I can see it replacing carbon as the adsorbent of choice."

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6th Wave conducted various field trials for IXOS beads in laboratory over the past three years in partnership with some of the gold mining companies under a wide variety of conditions, including high-grade, low-grade, and refractory ores.

IXOS also demonstrated several advantages to activated carbon, including capacity, selectivity, elution time and temperature, adsorption efficiency, durability, and reuse during the trials.

6th Wave Innovations chairman and CEO Dr Jonathan Gluckman: "Working with our mining partners has allowed us to field-test the IXOS beads in harsh conditions that are impossible to synthesise.

"We have clearly demonstrated that the beads work consistently and predictably, and display all of the positive attributes we have seen in the lab. We are confident that IXOS will substantially increase our customers' profitability."