Gangues and Clays Minerals as Rate-Limiting Factors in Copper Heap Leaching: A Review

Norman Toro,Edelmira Gálvez,Yousef Ghorbani,Pedro Robles,Mehmet Deniz Turan

doi:10.3390/met11101539

Abstract

Heap leaching is a firm extractive metallurgical technology facilitating the economical processing of different kinds of low-grade ores that are otherwise not exploited. Nevertheless, regardless of much development since it was first used, the process advantages are restricted by low recoveries and long extraction times. It is becoming progressively clear that the selection of heap leaching as an appropriate technology to process a specific mineral resource that is both environmentally sound and economically feasible very much relies on having an ample understanding of the essential underlying mechanisms of the processes and how they interrelate with the specific mineralogy of the ore body under concern. This paper provides a critical overview of the role of gangues and clays minerals as rate-limiting factors in copper heap leaching operations. We aim to assess and deliver detailed descriptions and discussions on the relations between different gangues and clays minerals and their impacts on the operational parameters and chemical dynamics in the copper heap leaching processes.

Highlights

According to Toro et al [1], copper mining is an industry that is in constant growth, and approximately 25 million tons are produced annually worldwide [2]
Flotation techniques generate a large amount of waste, which results in tailings dams with a high possibility of generating acid mine drainage (AMD) due to the oxidation of minerals with a high presence of pyrite [13]
We offer a detailed description and discussion on the links and relationships between different types of gangues and clays minerals and their impact on the operational parameters and chemical dynamics

Summary

Introduction

According to Toro et al [1], copper mining is an industry that is in constant growth, and approximately 25 million tons are produced annually worldwide [2]. Flotation techniques generate a large amount of waste, which results in tailings dams with a high possibility of generating acid mine drainage (AMD) due to the oxidation of minerals with a high presence of pyrite [13]. The latter is essential to consider since the drainage of mining waste rocks is one of the most important environmental challenges facing the global mining industry due to its dynamics and persistence [14,15,16,17]

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