Zimbabwe 500 Tons/Day Gold Ore Processing Project

The 500-ton/day gold ore processing project in Zimbabwe uses mature technology, with the mainstream process being carbon-in-pulp (CIP) cyanide ore or gravity separation plus wet grinding. Bebon has the complete implementation capability from design and equipment supply to installation and commissioning. The project is operating stably, and the recovery rate and economic benefits have both met expectations.

Mainstream Process Flow and Technical Solutions

Based on actual project cases, the 500t/d gold processing project in Zimbabwe is mainly divided into two categories: CIP (carbon-in-pulp) gold extraction and gravity separation gold extraction, with the specific choice depending on the ore properties.

1. Whole-sludge cyanidation carbon-in-pulp (CIP) process – suitable for low-grade oxidized ores or heap leaching tailings.

• ‌Applicable scenarios: The raw ore is gold heap leaching tailings or low-grade oxidized ore, where the gold is in a free state and easy to leach.
• ‌Process flow:
  1. Raw ore is fed into the ore bin by a loader and then conveyed to an energy-efficient ball mill via a belt conveyor.
  2. The ball mill, slurry pump, and hydrocyclone form a closed-circuit grinding system, controlling the fineness to over 90% of the material to -200 mesh.
  3. The overflow from the staged ore enters a thickener for pre-concentration, while the underflow enters a multi-stage, series-connected leaching mixing tank.
  4. Sodium cyanide solution is added, dissolving the gold into a gold-cyanide complex, which is then adsorbed by activated carbon to form gold-loaded carbon.
  5. The gold-loaded carbon is desorbed and electrolyzed to obtain gold mud, which is then smelted into gold ingots.
  6. The tailings are dewatered by a filter press; the filtrate is reused, and the filter cake is transported off-site for disposal.

2. Gravity separation for gold extraction – suitable for high-grade primary or placer gold deposits.

• Applicable scenarios: Ore containing coarse-grained free gold, suitable for physical separation.
• ‌Process flow:
  1. Two-stage open-circuit crushing: jaw crusher for coarse crushing + hammer crusher for fine crushing, product particle size ≤15mm;
  2. The crushed product is temporarily stored in a steel buffer silo and then conveyed by belt to a wet ball mill for grinding.
  3. The ground product enters a centrifugal concentrator or shaking table for gravity separation to directly obtain rough concentrate.
  4. The tailings are concentrated by a thickener, dewatered by a filter press, and then stockpiled.
  5. The concentrate can be further smelted or sent to a smelter for further processing.