Microbial-assisted heap leaching
AssigneeTechnological Resources Pty. Limited
InventorsDaniel Arthur Kittelty, Ralph Peter Hackl, Yaqiong Ren, Paul Leslie Brown
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Abstract
Microbial-assisted heap leaching of fragments or agglomerates of fragments of copper-containing sulfidic ores, such as chalcopyrite ores, and copper-containing sulfidic waste materials is disclosed. A heap leaching method includes controlling the sulfate concentration in a leach liquor. When heap leaching includes using agglomerates, a method of forming agglomerates includes adding the feed materials at, or close to, the inlet end, typically no more than 40%, typically no more than 30%, more typically no more than 20%, of the length from the inlet end of the agglomeration unit.
Claims19
A method of microbial-assisted heap leaching of base metal-containing sulfidic ores or base metal-containing sulfidic waste materials which includes:
- supplying an acidic leach liquor containing sulfate to a heap of fragments of base metal-containing sulfidic ores or base metal-containing sulfidic waste materials or agglomerates of fragments and allowing the leach liquor to flow through the heap and leach base metal from fragments, collecting leach liquor from the heap, and processing collected leach liquor and recovering base metal from the leach liquor, with any one or more of the fragments, agglomerates of the fragments, and the leach liquor containing microbes, and the method further includes monitoring a sulfate concentration in the leach liquor collected from the heap and controlling an operating parameter of the heap so that an amount of sulfate generated in the heap does not exceed a threshold sulfate concentration.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.