Heap Leaching Method
AssigneeBhp Billiton Olympic Dam Corporation Pty Ltd
InventorGary Vernon Rorke
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for recovering one or more of copper, uranium and a precious metal from an ore material, including: (a) forming a heap of the ore material; (b) during active heap irrigation, contacting the heap of the ore material with an iron containing acidic leach liquor having a high chloride content in the presence of an oxygen containing gas, and producing a pregnant leach solution; and (c) recovering one or more of copper, uranium and a precious metal from the pregnant leach solution.
Claims21
-29. (canceled)
A method for recovering one or more of copper, uranium and a precious metal from an ore material, including:
- (a) forming a heap of the ore material;
- (b) during active heap irrigation, contacting the heap of the ore material with an iron containing acidic leach liquor having a high chloride content in the presence of an oxygen containing gas, and producing a pregnant leach solution;
- and
- (c) recovering one or more of copper, uranium and a precious metal from the pregnant leach solution.
A method of recovering one or more of a base metal, uranium and a precious metal from an ore wherein the ore is subjected to an active leach cycle in which the ore is contacted with an iron containing acidic leach liquor having a high chloride content in the presence of an oxygen containing gas, wherein:
- a. the ore is optionally agglomerated;
- b. the leach liquor has a solution potential that exceeds 450 mV Ag/AgCl, in the absence of microorganisms;
- c. the leach liquor has a total iron concentration >0.1 g/L;
- d. the ore has a moisture content in the range of 2 to 25 wt. %;
- e. the leach liquor has a pH that does not exceed pH 3.0;
- and
- f. the leach liquor has a Cl− ion concentration between 20 and 230 g/L.
A process of extracting one or more of a base metal, uranium and a precious metal from an ore material which is enhanced at solution potentials exceeding 450 mV Ag/AgCl, in the absence of any microorganism, by contacting the ore material in an active leach cycle using an acid solution at a high chloride content containing dissolved iron.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.