An Examination, Solution, and Transformative Strategy to Replace Mercury and Cyanide Salts in Artisanal Small-Scale Mining (ASM): Southern Ecuador.

Cosgrove, Bruce, MSc, Independent Scientific Researcher & Moreno-Chavez, Jose MASc., Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, ESPOL, FCNM, GUAYAQUIL-ECUADOR. Environmental Chemistry eJournal January 31, 2025, Last revised: 16 Oct 2025. 

This paper proposes a four-stage transformative strategy to introduce Manipueira, an extract derived from the cyanogenic bitter cassava plant (Manihot esculenta Crantz), as a sustainable alternative to mercury in artisanal small-scale ore processing and to synthetic cyanide salts in tailings leaching in southern Ecuador.

Additionally, this paper reviews several mercury-free gold recovery methods used by artisanal miners and small mining communities that typically process less than one tonne of ore per day, often without mechanization or formal permits. It identifies their key benefits and evaluates the scalability to small-scale mining operations incorporating partial mechanization and processing capacities ranging from 10 to 100 tonnes per day.

Finally, it presents an illustrative design for a 50-tonne-per-day world's first Manipueira-based precious metals ore and tailings leaching center.

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