Definition

1. Noun:
   • An industrial extraction method: The cyanide process is a specific industrial technique used in mining and metallurgy.
   • Purpose and mechanism: It refers to the method of extracting gold and silver from their ores by dissolving them in a dilute solution of sodium cyanide or potassium cyanide.

Usage

• Noun:
  • The introduction of the cyanide process revolutionized gold mining in the late 19th century.
  • Environmental concerns are associated with the cyanide process due to the toxicity of the chemicals used.

Advanced Usage

• "to employ the cyanide process": to use this specific extraction method.
  • The new mine will employ the cyanide process to recover gold from low-grade ore.

Variants and Related Words

• Cyanidation (n): A synonymous term for the cyanide process.
  • Cyanidation remains the dominant method for gold extraction worldwide.

Synonyms

• Gold cyanidation: A more descriptive synonym.
• Cyanide leaching: A term emphasizing the dissolution stage of the process.

Noun

1. an industrial process for extracting gold and silver by treating ore with a sodium cyanide solution