Abstract
In copper dump leaching, run-of-mine ore is irrigated with acidic leaching solution to generate aqueous cupric ions for further processing. The very large size of the ore particles being leached, as much as two meters in diameter, should preclude any significant metal recovery. Dump leaching should not work; and yet it does. This study investigated the leaching of coarse-sized copper sulphide ore, with top sizes ranging from 150 to 250 mm. The simulated run-of-mine ore sizes were leached for more than six months. The data collected from these experiments included particle size distributions before and after leaching, copper distributions by size before and after leaching, and leaching kinetics at various irrigation rates. The results showed that leaching causes particle breakage. That breakage results in a continuous generation of fines and a continuous supply of fresh mineral surfaces for leaching. Dump leaching can be explained by a mechanism of breakage and fines generation. The rate of copper leaching in dumps is a product of the rate of fines generation and the rate of leaching of the fines.
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