In the artisanal gold mining industry, due to the use of the inefficient amalgamation process, high-grade gold and an alarming quantity of mercury-containing tailings are released to the environment. Although these tailings pose serious environmental risks, they also represent a potentially lucrative source of gold. This study investigates tailings from artisanal gold mining (ASGM) in Cameroon, employing a comprehensive characterization approach that includes physical, chemical, and mineralogical analyses, as well as hydrometallurgical methods such as traditional cyanidation and innovative glycine leaching, complemented by ion exchange to recover metals from the leaching solution. Mineralogical analysis indicated that the sample predominantly consists of quartz and some low-grade silicate and iron minerals. The main constituents were SiO₂, Al₂O₃, and Fe₂O₃. The gold, silver and mercury grades of the sample were 14, 4 and 8 ppm, respectively. The median particle size of the sample (d50) was 360µm. MLA results showed that some of the gold and silver electrums are locked inside quartz, pyrite and muscovite particles. The results of leaching experiments revealed that by applying cyanide leaching, 87% of gold recovery was reached, while the recovery rate of glycine leaching remained around 45%. On the other hand, neither lixiviants did achieve a satisfying mercury recovery, which remained around 30%. The process of grinding the sample resulted in a modest enhancement in the recovery rates of gold and silver; however, it adversely affected the leaching efficiency of mercury during cyanide leaching. The AmberSep M91419 ion exchange resin demonstrated significant efficacy in extracting metals from both cyanide and glycine solutions.