MODELLING OF LEACHING OF

COPPER OXIDES IN DUMPS AND

IN-SITU

Joan Mahiques, Joaquín Martínez, and Luis Moreno

Department of Chemical Engineering
Royal Institute of Technology
Stockholm, Sweden
 Outline

• Introduction

• Leaching modelling
( Calculated cases )

• Results

• Conclusions

2
 Introduction

• Particle size is crucial for leaching of copper

oxides
– For small particles, leaching is controlled by kinetics
– For large sizes, diffusion controls leaching
• In-situ leaching requires wells for injection and
extraction of the solution
• Objectives
– To assess the impact of minerals formed by particles with
different sizes on copper leaching
– To study the location of the injection and extraction wells3
 Leaching modelling

• Simple case. One-dimensional model.

– Injection at several wells along a line
– Extraction at several wells along a line

• Mass balances and others equations

– Equation for the acid in the solution along the bed
– Equation for copper dissolved in the solution along the bed
– Variation of the shrinking core with time. An equation for
each size.
4
 Leaching modelling

• Acid concentration in the bed

∂C H + ∂ 2C H+ ∂C H +
φ⋅ = DL ⋅ φ ⋅ −q⋅ + R H+
∂t ∂x 2
∂x
• Copper dissolved in the solution
∂C Cu + 2 ∂ 2 C Cu + 2 ∂C Cu + 2
φ⋅ = DL ⋅ φ ⋅ −q⋅ + R Cu + 2
∂t ∂x 2
∂x

5
 Leaching modelling

• Shrinking core model for reaction within the particle

– Two zones: copper depleted zone and unreacted zone
– Reaction on the surface of the unreacted zone
CuO + 2H + + SO 24− ⇒ Cu 2+ + SO 24− + H 2 O
Unreacted zone Reaction zone

Copper
depleted zone

6
 Leaching modelling

• Shrinking core model. Copper generation including the

resistances due to:
– Diffusion in the film around the particle.
– Diffusion in the copper depleted zone
– Reaction kinetics

⎛ ∂N CuO ⎞ 0.5 ⋅ C H + ⋅ Sext

⎜ ⎟=−
⎝ ∂t ⎠ 1 (R − rC ) ⋅ R R2
+ + 2
K Cfilm rC ⋅ D eff rC ⋅ k

– One for each ore size

7
 Leaching modelling

• Initial conditions C H + ( x , t < 0) = 0 C Cu 2+ ( x , t < 0) = 0

rCi (t < 0 ) = R i for each size
• Boundary conditions
dC H +
– At inlet q ⋅ C H + 0 = q ⋅ C H + − φD L ⋅
dx
dC Cu 2+
q ⋅ C Cu 2+ 0 = q ⋅ C Cu 2+ − φD L ⋅
dx
– At outlet: only advective flow

8
 Leaching modelling. 2-D model

• Location of the injection and recovery wells in

different geometries, e.g. circular

• A equation for the solution flow rate. Darcy equation

Q
q = = K ⋅i
A

• Steady-state is assumed to solve transport equations

9
 Data
Entity, unit Value

Initial H+ concentration, mol/m3 357

Solid copper concentration, mol/kg mineral 0.0365

Specific flow rate of leaching solution, m3/m2/s 1.3 10-6

Bed porosity 0.33

Bed length, m 10

Dispersivity, m 0.2 – 2.0

Particle effective diffusivity, m2/s 6.7 10-12

10
 Results. Acid concentration

• One-D. One size

400
3
Acid concentration, mol/m

300

200

250 hr
500 hr
100 750 hr
1000 hr
1200 hr
1400 hr
0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Distance, m 11
 Results. Copper concentration

• One-D. One size

0.04

0.035
Solid copper concentration,

0.03
0 hr
0.025 250 hr
500 hr
mol/kg

0.02
750 hr
0.015 1000 hr
1500 hr
0.01
2000 hr
0.005

0
0 2 4 6 8 10
-0.005
Distance, m
12
 Results. Recovery as a function
of the size
• One-D. One size

7000
Recov 90%
6000
Recov 80%
5000 Recov 70%
Recov 60%
Time, hr

4000

3000

2000

1000

0
0.015 0.025 0.035 0.045 0.055
size (R in m) 13
 Results. Time to reach a certain
copper recovery
• One-D. One size

Recov 90%
6000 Recov 80%
Recov 70%
Recov 60%
Time, hr

4000

2000

0
0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01
Q (m3/hr)
14
 Results. Comparing a given particle
size distribution with an average size
• Distribution: three different sizes
700

600
Copper recovery, mol

500

400

300

200 R-ave
0.7 R-ave
100 0.8 R-ave
Distribution
0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
Time, hr 15
 Results 2-D modelling:
Stream lines
• Stream lines for an extraction wells surrounded by
four injection wells.

16
 Results 2-D modelling:
Acid concentration
• Acid concentration for an extraction wells surrounded
by several injection wells

17
 Conclusions

• The leaching model may be applied primarily to

copper recovery from oxide minerals
• The results show that particle size has a great impact
on leaching performance
• A weighted averaged diameter is not a good
description for minerals of non uniform size. A size
distribution must be used in the simulations to obtain
satisfactory results
• The Two-Dimensional model may be used to find an
adequate arrangement of injection and extraction wells18