The Impact of Drip Irrigation on Heap Hydrology and Microbial Colonies in Bioleaching

Abstract

In heap bioleaching iron and/or sulfur oxidising microorganisms are used to facilitate the oxidation of base metal sulfides in ore, thereby liberating the metal ions (e.g. Cu2+) into the leach solution. The heap performance is consequently strongly influenced by the contacting of the leach solution and the ore particles. In this study two setups were used to examine irrigation from a single drip emitter, one of the most common methods of heap irrigation. The distribution of liquid, microbial colonisation and mineral recovery in a bioleach of a 132kg “ore slice” of agglomerated ore were monitored using sample ports positioned along the breadth and height of the box over a period in excess of 500 days. A specialist magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method which is insensitive to the metal content of the ore was subsequently used to examine the effect of flow rate and particle size distribution on the liquid flow into a smaller bed. Overall the lateral movement of the liquid increased with bed depth, though preferential flow was evident. The majority of the liquid flow was in the region directly below the irrigation point and almost no liquid exchange occurred in the areas of lowest liquid content at the top corners of the samples. This had a significant impact on the local leaching efficiencies and microbial colonisation of the ore. The MRI studies revealed at steady state, the majority (~60%) of the liquid flowed into established large channels. There was minimal exchange with low liquid content regions (presumably stagnant liquid) despite their accounting for more than 16% of the total liquid hold-up. The effect of increasing the flow rate was to retard lateral liquid distribution while slightly increasing the liquid hold‑up in large channels in the region below the irrigation point. Hence poor lateral liquid distribution in drip irrigation was identified as a significant disadvantage of the method.