With the increasing depletion of high-grade gold resources, the average grade of domestic gold mines has dropped to below 1.8g/t. A large amount of low-grade oxidized ore, tailings, and difficult to treat ore with a grade of 1-2g/t cannot be economically developed for a long time, resulting in serious resource waste. In April 2026, a domestic research team and a joint enterprise announced a technological breakthrough in the development of a new molecular recognition environmentally friendly gold extraction agent. The leaching rate of 1.5g/t ultra-low grade oxidized ore remained stable at over 85%, and the amount of impurities dissolved was reduced by 90%, providing a new solution for the efficient utilization of low-grade resources.

Traditional sodium cyanide has a leaching rate of only 60% -70% for low-grade ores, and impurities (such as iron, copper, arsenic, etc.) are often leached out, resulting in high reagent consumption and high wastewater treatment costs; The new environmentally friendly gold extractant, through molecular level design, has active groups that can specifically recognize gold atoms, preferentially form stable complexes with gold and silver ions, and hardly react with vein minerals, achieving selective leaching. Industrial test data shows that the consumption of chemicals is only 0.3-0.5kg/ton of ore, saving 40% compared to sodium cyanide; The leaching cycle has been shortened to within 24 hours, and the equipment turnover rate has increased threefold; The tailings grade can be stably controlled below 0.2g/t, significantly improving resource utilization efficiency.

This technology has been applied on a large scale in low-grade gold mines in Henan, Shandong, Yunnan, and other regions, processing over 5 million tons of ore and increasing gold production by nearly 10 tons, creating economic benefits of over 400 million yuan. At the same time, the drug is non-toxic and easily degradable, and the tailings can be directly backfilled or comprehensively utilized, with no risk of cyanide pollution and significant ecological benefits.

Experts from the China Gold Association stated that China's low-grade gold reserves exceed 2000 tons of metal, and breakthroughs in new environmentally friendly gold extraction technologies will activate the value of billions of resources, promote the transformation of the gold industry from "mining the rich and abandoning the poor" to "eating dry and squeezing clean", and assist in resource conservation and green development.