Images of the Past
The Golden Reward - Heap Leach Mining in the 1990s
Season 13 Episode 1 | 2m 19sVideo has Closed Captions
This short video describes the gold extraction process employed at a Black Hills mine
A short video about the process of operating the Golden Reward gold mine in the Black Hills during the late 1980s and 1990s. The heap leach process involves first separating ore from "waste" rock The ore is crused and piled and a cyanide solution is dripped through the pile. Fluid containing gold is collected and refined.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Images of the Past is a local public television program presented by SDPB
Support is provided by the Friends of SDPB
Images of the Past
The Golden Reward - Heap Leach Mining in the 1990s
Season 13 Episode 1 | 2m 19sVideo has Closed Captions
A short video about the process of operating the Golden Reward gold mine in the Black Hills during the late 1980s and 1990s. The heap leach process involves first separating ore from "waste" rock The ore is crused and piled and a cyanide solution is dripped through the pile. Fluid containing gold is collected and refined.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship(bright music) - [Narrator] The Golden Reward Mining Company initiated development in 1988.
In the spring of 1989, the pad was taking shape, and you'd get a feel for the scope of the mine site.
The mining process during the late 1980s and nineties was defined as an open-pit truck-and-shovel operation.
By 1995, 50-ton trucks and large front end loaders were moving ore from the pit to a crushing facility or rock depository.
The primary crusher handled about 625 tons per hour.
The ore was then sent to secondary and tertiary crushers where it was crushed to a final half-inch product.
After crushing, it was placed on heap leach pads ready for processing.
The multi-layer asphalt pad covered approximately 18 acres and was constructed with 12 cells.
After loading the cells, the ore was leached with a dilute cyanide solution to remove the gold and silver.
The spent ore went through the detoxification and neutralization process, after which the ore was removed and placed in a spent or depository to undergo final reclamation.
Reclamation of disturbed ground has been conducted from the very beginning of exploration and continued throughout the life of the mine.
An engineered design of backfilled pits and recontoured rock depositories has established a reclaimed landscape that is compatible with the surrounding natural landscape and provides self-sustaining habitat for local wildlife.
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Images of the Past is a local public television program presented by SDPB
Support is provided by the Friends of SDPB