Abstract
Heap leaching of caliche ores is frequently performed with run-of-mine (ROM) material, which includes rocks of very different sizes; however, most of the experimental data are obtained using small ...
Highlights
Caliche is a mineral composed of a high proportion of water-soluble species that is naturally found in northern Chile, in the regions of Tarapacá and Antofagasta
The model fitting was done in terms of the outlet concentration of the highly soluble species, and the value obtained was 1.99*10-5 m/h
The contribution of this work is threefold: i) new data of column leaching experiments using coarse caliche ore are supplied, ii) a previously developed model is applied to the leaching of coarse particles with an acceptable level of agreement, and iii) determination of physical properties of caliche mineral is carried out
Summary
Caliche is a mineral composed of a high proportion of water-soluble species that is naturally found in northern Chile, in the regions of Tarapacá and Antofagasta. The most important products obtained from this mineral are nitrates and iodine. Chile is the world's largest producer of iodine and natural nitrates (USGS, 2013). The recovery of metals and non-metals from minerals using aqueous solutions has been carried out since ancient times, both vat and heap leaching being the most used techniques. In the case of the production of iodine and nitrates from caliche, depending on the grade and granulometry of the ore, the leaching process takes place in vats or heaps. The heap leaching has gained great importance due to the decreasing ore grades and the increment of processing costs (Ghorbani et al, 2011). Caliche heaps are frequently constructed by accumulation of 600 to 900 thousand tons of ROM caliche, which means that a wide spectrum of particle sizes composes the heaps
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