Hydrostatic pressure assisted autoclave system for hydrometallurgical processing

An autoclave system for conducting various processes in which fluent material, inclusive of solids, liquids, and gases, is subjected to pressure elevated from ambient, said system comprising:

• an excavated passage, flow inducing means, and fluid addition means;
• said excavated passage possessing an entrance run with an inlet and a return run with an outlet, each said run possessing an inclination from horizontal and extending downward through rock, both said runs possessing communication with each other at a predetermined depth with respect to said inlet and said outlet, said entrance run and said return run each possessing a fully encompassing continuous casing sealing surrounding rock porosity;
• said flow inducing means being capable of inducing flow of fluent material introduced through said inlet through said excavated passage, including autoclave areas in which elevated pressure is naturally created and maintained by a hydrostatic column of fluent material, and out said outlet;
• said fluid addition means being capable of adding at least one fluid reagent to at least one location inside said passage at a pressure exceeding the hydrostatic pressure existing at that location in the passage when said passage is filled with fluent material;
• whereby flow of fluent material introduced through said inlet is induced downward through said entrance run and the addition of fluid reagent under pressure into, and the pressure maintained hydrostatically in, said flow of fluent facilitates hydrometallurgical processing of said fluent material under elevated pressure resulting in processed effluent outflow through said outlet.