Abstract
Heap leaching is a low-cost technology used in industrial mining to recover precious metals such as gold and uranium, along with several other highly sought after metals like copper, from their primary resources (ores and minerals). For many decades, there has been a growing demand for heap leaching due to its environmental benefits. Heap leaching provides mining operators with a benign, effective and economical solution for the environment and produces only minor emissions from furnaces. The cost of the heap leaching process is low, making this process an attractive option from a financial standpoint. Here, we shall present a brief review of the heap leaching process when applied to the extraction of different metals from primary resources (ores and minerals). This paper presents a roadmap to satisfy future national demands for rare earth elements (REEs). This heap leaching process is applicable for the recovery of REEs from secondary resources such as mining and coal residues. Heap leaching plays a significant role in the recovery of critical elements which are used in clean and green energy applications. In the mining sector, heap leaching is a distinguished method for the recovery of valuable/beneficial metals from low-quality ore. In the present study, we shall report briefly on the heap leaching technologies for valuable metal recovery with economic advantages.
Highlights
Heap leaching is one of the oldest and the most traditional mining process used to extract the valuable metals from specific minerals
Heap leaching for rare earths extraction Heap leaching with increasing flux rate Heap leaching with the new model (MINLP) and GAMS
Heap leaching with the new model (MINLP) and GAMS software [27], as well as the new model named mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) including GAMS software were utilized for the study of heap design and operational variables for metal recovery
Summary
Heap leaching is one of the oldest and the most traditional mining process used to extract the valuable metals from specific minerals. This is a hydrometallurgical process in which the solution is applied for the dissolution of minerals from the ore that is used for the extraction of metals. Heap leaching was practiced 500 years ago. Since the middle of the 16th century, heap leaching was practiced in Hungary for copper extraction. Gold and silver heap leaching first began at Cortez in 1969. 37 different heap leaching operations are active worldwide for the production of gold, which is estimated to be around198 tons per year
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