cyanide process
- noun
- /ˈsaɪənaɪd ˈprɑːsɛs/
- Specialized
:
proceso de cianuro
- The cyanide process revolutionized gold mining in the late nineteenth century.
Examples
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Many modern mines still extract precious metals using the cyanide process.
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Strict environmental regulations are now in place for operations that use the cyanide process.
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The cyanide process is widely used in gold mining.
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Many companies utilize the cyanide process for extracting silver.
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Many modern mines still extract precious metals using the cyanide process.
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Strict environmental regulations are now in place for operations that use the cyanide process.
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The cyanide process revolutionized gold mining in the late nineteenth century.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'cyanide' + 'process' straightforwardly yields 'a process that uses cyanide.' This is non-idiomatic and follows regular noun‑noun compound semantics, so a B1 learner who knows both words will grasp it as an industrial/chemical procedure involving cyanide (they may not, however, infer the specific application to gold and silver without extra domain knowledge).
Etymology
Cyanide process comes from a clear image: miners soaked crushed rock in a liquid containing cyanide, and the chemical dissolved the gold so they could 'pull out' the metal. So, cyanide process means 'an industrial method to extract gold and silver from ore'.
