International Cyanide Management Code
| Full Name | International Cyanide Management Code For The Manufacture, Transport and Use of Cyanide In The Production of Gold |
|---|---|
| Established | 2002 |
| Number of Signatories | 196 (as of January 1, 2017) |
| Number of Certified Operations | 269 |
| Number of Countries where Cyanide Code is Being Implemented | 51 |
| Headquarters | Washington, DC |
| Website | http://www.cyanidecode.org/ |
The International Cyanide Management Code For The Manufacture, Transport and Use of Cyanide In The Production of Gold, commonly referred to as the Cyanide Code is a voluntary program designed to assist the global gold mining industry and the producers and transporters of cyanide used in gold mining in improving cyanide management practices, and to publicly demonstrate their compliance with the Cyanide Code through an independent and transparent process. The Cyanide Code is intended to reduce the potential exposure of workers and communities to harmful concentrations of cyanide‚ to limit releases of cyanide to the environment‚ and to enhance response actions in the event of an exposure or release.
The Cyanide Code was one of the earliest standards and certification programs developed for the minerals sector. Today, it is amongst the most established certification programs in the mining industry.
The program’s audit process and the transparency of audit results set it apart from other voluntary industry programs.
Cyanide is a general term for a group of chemicals containing carbon and nitrogen. Cyanide compounds include both naturally occurring and human-made chemicals. In nature, cyanide is present naturally in plants including bitter almonds apples, peaches, apricots, lima beans, barley, sorghum, flaxseed and bamboo shoots. Some scientists suggest that the reason why these plants contain cyanide, which can be toxic, is that evolution has designed them to discourage insects from feasting on them. Although cyanide can be toxic to humans, eating cyanide-containing foods generally is not harmful because cyanide is present in very low amounts, is often contained in seeds which are discarded, or is washed away when the food is prepared. Cyanide can be acutely toxic to humans, other mammals and aquatic species, as it interferes with oxygen utilization. Cyanide does not bioaccumulate, and a non-lethal dose is metabolized in the body. Cyanide is not carcinogenic, teratogenic or mutagenic.
Cyanide comes in many forms including hydrogen cyanide (HCN), cyanogen chloride (CNCl), and salts such as sodium cyanide (NaCN) or potassium cyanide (KCN). In manufacturing, cyanide is used to make paper, textiles, and plastics. Cyanide salts are used in metallurgy for electroplating, metal cleaning, and removing gold from its ore. Cyanide gas is used to exterminate pests and vermin in ships and buildings.
Cyanide is a basic building block for the chemical industry. About 80% of global cyanide production is used to synthesize a wide range of industrial organic chemicals such as nylon and acrylics.
It is estimated that less than 20% of manufactured cyanide is used in mineral processing in the form of sodium cyanide. Sodium cyanide has been used in gold mining since 1887 because it is one of only a few chemical reagents that will dissolve gold in water. This allows the efficient extraction of gold from low grade ore. Commercial gold mining operations use very dilute solutions of sodium cyanide, typically in the range of 0.01% and 0.05% cyanide (100 to 500 parts per million).
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