Metal extraction from ores by heap leaching
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Metal Extraction from Ores by Heap Leaching
ROBERT W. BARTLETT
Heap leaching low-grade ores has become a major contributor to the extraction of economically important metals, notably copper and gold. The state-of-the-art in heap leaching is reviewed with emphasis on process engineering. Rock leaching, including rock pore diffusion and mineral kinetics, solution flow, and retention in ore heaps during percolation leaching, and bio-oxidation of sulfidic ores are covered. Oxygen transport into heaps by gaseous diffusion, natural convection, and forced air ventilation is discussed. Strategies for optimizing heap leaching include ore crushing, ore agglomeration, low-cost air ventilation of sulfide ore heaps undergoing bio-oxidation using fans, and the use of aggregate metal extraction rate constants in making metallurgical business decisions about heap leaching. I.
INTRODUCTION
THE Extraction and Processing Division of TMS has been my primary technical home for nearly 4 decades. The Extraction and Processing Lecturer Award honors an outstanding scientific leader in the field of nonferrous extractive metallurgy with an invitation to present a comprehensive lecture at the TMS Annual Meeting. Robert W. Bartlett, presently dean of the College of Mines and Earth Resources and professor of metallurgical engineering at the University of Idaho, has spent half of his career in industry, Anaconda, ARCO, and Kennecott, and half in academia, Stanford and Idaho. He earned his degrees at the University of Utah. His lecture is based on research in industry and at the University of Idaho. Dr. Bartlett has been a member of TMS for over 40 years and was president in 1989. Earlier, he was a member of the TMS Board of Directors representing, for 3 years, what is now the Extraction and Processing Division. Dr. Bartlett consults primarily on processing in the mining and metals industries. He is a recipient of the TMS Extraction and Processing Technology Award, the Turner Award of the Electrochemical Society, the Wadsworth Award of the Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, and the McConnell Award of AIME. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B
While I made occasional excursions into the processing of advanced materials, and still do, I am primarily an extractive metallurgist, having practiced this profession in research at two major mining companies and two universities. During these years, I have been active in TMS through meetings, publications, and committee work. One develops many wonderful friendships over nearly 4 decades. Among these are some very distinguished colleagues who have preceded me as an EPD lecturer. My mentor at the University of Utah, Milt Wadsworth, is the first to come to mind. Nick Themelis was my boss at Kennecott. Herb Kellogg once tried to lure me out of the West to New York City. I used to ski with the late Julian Szekely and he always beat me at tennis. As TMS president, I was sandwiched between Peter Tarasoff and Keith Brimacombe, sans a cou
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