Environmental footprint of gold production: a focus on sulfide mineral processing

The environmental challenges of gold production from sulfide minerals present a growing concern due to additional processing and pretreatment methods required for gold extraction. Given the importance of gold mining in Nevada’s economy, this study focused on addressing the environmental footprints of gold production from sulfide minerals by employing a life cycle assessment (LCA). The LCA results showed that the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with all the operations was \(1.00\times {10}^{4}\) $1.00\times {10}^4$ kg CO₂– eq from which grinding was responsible for 41.3% of the overall GHG emissions. Higher electricity consumption in the grinding stage was the primary factor for generating CO₂ emissions, showing the importance of the transition of electricity to renewable and greener energy sources. The results also noted that pressure oxidation was the second dominant contributor to almost all the impact categories after grinding, showing its most significant contribution to global warming and fossil fuel depletion. This comprehensive evaluation of the environmental impacts associated with gold mining can be the starting point for reducing the environmental burdens in the mining industry.