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US 10,370,738 B2Granted
Methods and systems for leaching a metal-bearing ore
AssigneeFreeport Minerals Corporation
InventorsJoanna M Robertson, Christine Rae Green, Gabriel Elias Bowman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method for recovering a metal value from a metal-bearing ore material are provided. A metal-bearing ore can be mixed with certain substances and to form an agglomerated ore. In an intermediate state, between agglomeration and heap formation, bacteria can be added to the metal-bearing ore material to produce an augmented ore. The augmented ore can then be formed into a heap. Bacteria from the heap may be fortified to assist in bacterial growth.
Claims9
A method comprising:
- inoculating a first agglomerated ore comprising a metal-bearing material with bacteria to form a first augmented ore;
- forming at least a portion of a heap with the first augmented ore;
- leaching the first augmented ore in a heap leach to yield a metal-bearing solution;
- directing at least a portion of the metal-bearing solution from the heap to a separate growth pond to form a selectively pressured bacterial colony;
- adding a nutrient directly to the portion of the metal-bearing solution in the separate growth pond to yield a fortified liquid medium comprising an amplified number of bacteria within the selectively pressured bacterial colony;
- and
- directing at least a portion of the fortified liquid medium from the separate growth pond to a second agglomerated ore during inoculation of the second agglomerated ore.
4 more elements
A method comprising:
- inoculating a first agglomerated ore comprising a metal-bearing material with bacteria to form a first augmented ore;
- forming at least a portion of a first heap with the first augmented ore;
- leaching the first augmented ore in the first heap to yield a metal-bearing solution;
- directing at least a portion of the metal-bearing solution to a second heap to form a selectively pressured bacterial colony;
- adding a nutrient directly to the second heap to yield a fortified liquid medium comprising an amplified number of bacteria in the selectively pressured bacterial colony;
- and
- directing a portion of the fortified liquid medium from the second heap to a second agglomerated ore during inoculation of the second agglomerated ore to form a second augmented ore.
4 more elements
A method comprising:
- incubating a bacterial colony in a bioreactor system;
- inoculating an agglomerated ore comprising a metal-bearing material with bacteria from the bacterial colony to form an augmented ore;
- forming at least a portion of a heap with the augmented ore;
- leaching the augmented ore in a heap leach to yield a metal-bearing solution;
- pretreating at least a portion of the metal-bearing solution to form a pretreated metal-bearing solution;
- and
- directing the pretreated metal-bearing solution to the bioreactor.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.