(a) How many years will it take to complete mining at this project?

Operating days in the year

Daily production rate
Yearly production rate
Total amount of ore
Time to compete project
Time to compete project

350 days/year
15,000 tonnes/day
5,250,000 tonnes/year
25,000,000 tonnes
4.8 years
4 years

10

months

(b) How large will the heap leach pad be (in m 2) if the ore is stacked to a height of 25m at side slopes of 18 degrees?
Volume of heap leach pad
h

= Volume of pyramid with base (B)

=
25
m

=
18
= M/V
=
1.6
tonnes/m3
= M/
=
25,000,000 tonnes (total)
=
15,625,000 m3

A top

Volume of pyramidal frustum V = (h/3) * (2 + 2 + )

= h / tan
tan =
0.3249197
=
76.94

A sides

m
m

= + 2
= - 2
3V/h = ( - 2)2 + 2 + ( - 2)
Rearrange to give:
( - 2)2 + 2 + ( - 2) -3V/h = 0
Roots of quadratic give:
= ( 12 (3V/h - 2)) / 6
2 =
3V/h =
( 12 (3V/h - 2)) =

5920.09
1875000
4735.9221873352

= A bottom

1 = + ( 12 (3V/h - 2)) / 6
1 =
866
m
Hence area of pad should be ~
= 2
B =

750,411

m2

(negative value, ignore)

(c) An additional cover layer of 1-m thick will be place on the slopes and the top of the heap. Estimate the amount o
From part (b)

Area of top of heap

Atop
Atop

=
76.94
=
866
= - 2
=
712.3824615653
2
=
=
507,488.77

Area of each side (assume all same)

Total heap surface area

Cover thickness
Amount of material to be used
Place ore density

Mass of cover material

h =
Aside =

83.3333333333
65,776.87

Atotal =

770,596.26

tcover =
Vcover =
=
= M/V
M = V
mcover =

Unit cost of placing material

Total cost of placing material

1.00
770,596.26
1.6

1,232,954.01
$3.25
$2,504,437.84

e heap. Estimate the amount of material that will be used in cubic meters and in tonnes, for the given placed (on the heap) ore
m
m

A top

m
m2

m
m2

A sides
m2
m
m3
tonnes/m3

tonnes
/m3

placed (on the heap) ore density.

= A bottom

(d) How large an area is under leach for the given leach application rate and processing flow rate?
Leach application rate
Processing flow rate
Area under leach
Convesion for 1m3
Area under leach

10 L/hr/m2
1,500 m3/hr
150 m5/L
1,000 L
150000 m2

cessing flow rate?

(e) How long does it take to stack enough material 5m high to provide this area under leach (assume vertical side s
Surface area under leach
New height for heap
New heap volume
Ore density
New tonnage for volume
Production rate
Time to stack material

150,000 m2
5m
750,000 m3
1.6 tonnes/m3
1,200,000 tonnes
15,000 tonnes/day
80 days

er leach (assume vertical side slopes for this calculation)?

(f) Calculate the spacing of the drain pipes in the drain layer if the maximum saturated zone (h) is 0.5m
h = L/2 * (w/k)
For given:

i.e. L = 2h * (k/w)
h
k
w

0.5 m
2.00E-03 m/s
1.00E-06 m/s

k/w
L

2.00E+03
44.72 m

saturated zone (h) is 0.5m