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AssigneeKennecott Copper Corporation
InventorsPeter James Lingane, Lawrence MacLagan Cathles, III, Limin Hsueh
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This invention pertains to a method for in-situ mining of copper values from ore formations and, more particularly, this invention pertains to oxidative in-situ mining of copper wherein, for example, an oxygen-acid, a ferric iron-acid or a nitrate-acid lixiviant is being employed for recovering copper values. Further, this invention pertains to the recovery of copper from a deposit in which the ratio of pyrite to chalcopyrite is low. Still further, this invention pertains to a combination of acid-preinjection, monitoring, acid adjustment and additional monitoring or tell-tale ion monitoring for acid supply increase or decrease in the ore formation as steps in a combination for rendering highly controllable the acid preinjection process, thus providing further improvements to in-situ mining processes. Additionally, this invention pertains to a broad range of in-situ leaching processes including, for example, oxidative leaching of nickel sulfides, molybdenum sulfides or rhenium sulfides, or an oxidative leaching of pitch blende.
In in-situ solution mining for metal values in a deep lying deposit, the process comprising sinking at least one hole in said deposit, injecting an oxidant containing acid lixiviant for said metal values into at least one hole in said deposit, and recovering a pregnant lixiviant containing metal values from at least one of said holes, the improvement comprising, prior to the injection of said lixiviant, injecting an acid solution into said deposit for pre-reaction with acid neutralizing minerals in said deposit and maintaining said acid solution in contact with said deposit for a sufficient period of time to stabilize a leached metal response into said deposit to said lixiviant.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.