Abstract
Abstract In the United States approximately 12 percent of the new copper produced comes from dump leaching of low grade waste rock from open pit mining. While this amount of copper is significant it is unusual, even for massive dumps, for steady-state recovery rates to exceed 20 percent. Basic physical and chemical features important in leaching typical copper porphyry waste rock have been determined in laboratory studies in tests involving up to several tons of waste rock. The important findings of such tests including chemistry of extraction, laboratory modeling, energy implications, and recovery from dilute streams are presented. Special emphasis is given to important rate limiting features of waste rock leaching including the role of autotrophic bacteria in the oxidation sequence. Difficulties in scale up from the laboratory to practice are discussed.
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