CHARACTERIZATION, POTENTIALITY AND RECOVERY OF HIGH VALUE-ADDED ORES LOST IN GOLD PANNING IN THE VAVATENINA DISTRICT

chemistry

Madagascar is one of the countries rich in natural resources, particularly mining resources. However, then as now, this mineral wealth has not brought the development required for the country and the well-being of the population, which is a flagrant paradox. The mining sector is one of the country's growth sectors through the large mines. On the other hand, small-scale mines managed by small-scale miners are not part of it. Their means of production are archaic, manual and of low productivity, but they are of particular importance in their respective areas of intervention: they absorb unemployment, rural poverty and the reduction of rural exodus. The Vavatenina district, which is a well-known gold mining area in the Analanjirofo region, attracts a large influx of people for artisanal gold mining. The urban commune of Vavatenina and the rural communes of Ambohibe and Miarinarivo are the most affected by this activity. It is also the study area for this research work. Artisanal gold miners use the gold panning method. The pan is the appropriate tool for extracting gold from the other components (sand, earth, ore) associated with it. Handling the pan requires strength and perseverance and it is during gold extraction operations where many high value added minerals are lost. The minerals recovered will enable the operators to improve their living conditions, to develop the area affected by the activity and by ricochet to consider this sector (small mine) as one of the country's growth factors. The research work carried out aims to characterize and quantify the minerals associated with gold during gold extraction by tapping. The methodology adopted for the realization of this research work is both qualitative and quantitative. Its concretization at term requires a priori by the passage through the chronological order of the following activities: the capitalization of the data relating to the artisanal gold industry, the descent in the study area to carry out surveys on the mining industry and collect samples (soil, sand, rock) in 13 primary and secondary deposits (alluvium, eluvium, ...) finally, the analysis of these samples to detect the various minerals associated with gold. X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) is the appropriate technology. The method of analysis by Turbo Quante-pellets Powder is one of the simplest, the most precise and the most economic analytical methods practiced for the determination of the chemical composition of ores detected there and which also made it possible to obtain the result of qualitative and quantitative Analyses relating to the AFC (Corresponding Factory Analysis) and the ACP (Analysis in Principal Components).

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