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US 12,559,820 B2Granted
Ore resetting process for copper leaching
AssigneeCeibo Inc.
InventorsAnselmo Enrique Román Espinoza, Nélida Emilia Heresi Milad, Catalina Urrejola Santa María, Nicole Andrea Werner Ratto, Nicole Stephanie Guajardo Contreras, Alejandro Eduardo Briso Retamale
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Abstract
Methods, compositions and systems are provided that improve recovery of copper from previously leached copper ores. A reset solution comprising a chelating agent and a reducing agent is provided to a heap of previously leached and passivated ore to improve copper recovery kinetics in subsequent leaching stages.
Claims13
A method to improve recovery of copper from copper ore-containing material, comprising:
- providing a heap of copper ore previously leached;
- performing a reset step, wherein the heap of copper ore previously leached is irrigated with a reset solution comprising a chelating agent and a reducing agent;
- and
- performing a leaching step, wherein the irrigated heap from the reset step is further treated with a leaching solution comprising acid and a leaching agent to obtain a copper-enriched Pregnant Leaching Solution (PLS);
- and
- wherein said method further comprises a conditioning step, prior to performing the reset step, wherein the heap is irrigated with a conditioning solution having a pH in a range of 3.5 to 14.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.