Cationic block polymer agglomeration agents for mineral bearing ores

In a process for percolation leaching of minerals from a mineral bearing ore wherein the ore is first agglomerated with an agglomeration agent, formed into a heap and then leached by percolating a leaching solution through the heap which extracts the minerals from the agglomerated ore for subsequent recovery at an acidic pH, the improvement in which the agglomerating agent comprises a cationic copolymer selected from the group consisting of block copolymers of the general structure:

• ##STR8## wherein J is a polymeric segment obtained from the polymerization of ethylenically unsaturated hydrophobic monomers initiated by a difunctional initiator;
• R.sub.4 and R.sub.5 are H or a C.sub.1 to C.sub.3 alkyl group;
• K is a salt of an ammonium cation selected from the group consisting of NHR.sub.6 N.sup.+ (R.sub.7,8,9)M.sup.- or OR.sub.6 N.sup.+ (R.sub.7,8,9)M.sup.-, wherein R.sub.6 is a C.sub.1 to C.sub.4 linear or branched alkylene group, and R.sub.7, R.sub.8 and R.sub.9 can be selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, C.sub.1 to C.sub.4 linear or branched alkyl, C.sub.5 to C.sub.8 cycloalkyl, aromatic and alkylaromatic group;
• and M.sup.- is an anion, selected from the group consisting of chloride, bromide, methyl sulfate and hydrogen sulfate;
• and the molar percentage of x:y is from about 0:100 to 95:5, with the proviso that the total of x+y equals 100%.