AP23485052 "Development of a methodology for studying fine and nanoscale gold in ores of indigenous deposits, placer sands and products of their processing"

Relevance

The effectiveness of this project is expressed in the increase in gold reserves due to the development of methods for detecting fine and nano-sized gold in indigenous, placer and weathering crust deposits.

Purpose

The purpose of this project is to develop a methodology for studying fine and nanoscale gold (TNZ) in ores of indigenous deposits, placer sands and their processed products, which will allow developing schemes for opening dispersed gold inclusions and thereby improving its recovery rates to increase the gold reserves of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Expected and achieved results

The main result of the research was the discovery of gold nanoparticles located on the surface of many placer metal grains and in free form. Currently, the issue of applying an effective method for studying nanoscale gold has become especially relevant, particularly when investigating "non-traditional" objects that contain gold particles smaller than 100 microns. In the grain size spectrum of the metal, a significant proportion consists of particles smaller than 10 microns, which are difficult to distinguish under ordinary microscopy. The presence of such particles may indicate the presence of even finer individuals, which are difficult to extract using existing technologies. These findings confirm that the actual amount of gold in the object may be significantly higher than previously estimated.

Research team members with their identifiers (Scopus Author ID, Researcher ID, ORCID, if available) and links to relevant profiles