Artificial Intelligence on In Situ Leaching in Copper Ore as Solution of Worst Water

Sanitation and Climate Changes Consequence of Mining

Sulaiman N1, Febrina Dyah S1
1
Geofisika – FMIPA, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, 55281

In 2030, countries around the world will be targeted to reach development and well-being
for the future. In this year, all member states of the United Nations intensified Sustainable
Development Goals 2030 to support that achievement. One field that is important to increase the
welfare of mankind is water sanitation. Unfortunately, this condition is getting worst. Just one of
four people consume drinking safe water[1]. For some cases this problem is caused by mining for
ore exploration that isn't environmentally friendly. Waste can be found in water because it contains
sulfur, mercury, manganese, sulfuric acid, and lead[2]. Besides, those waste can release into the air
make air pollution resulted climate changes. This mining has to be handled rapidly to prevent those
issues.

The treatment of waste water from ore extraction cannot be maximized due to lack of
technology utilization. There are still 3000 tons of unmanaged waste out of 55 million tons of waste
from the mining industry in developing countries[3]. Waste that is wasted due to lack of
environmentally friendly treatment has a negative impact on water sanitation around the mining
area. In addition, the costs charged to mining companies to overcome these problems are large
enough thus become serious problems. A total of 64% of respondents in the mining industry have
experienced adverse water-related business impacts over the last five years (Carbon Development
Project Survey, 2013)[4]. Hence, innovative and solution technologies are needed in dealing with
these problems in terms of water sanitation and the economy.

The number of human population will continue to increase along with the times. This will
have an impact on various aspects of life support, amongst them is mineral consumption. It means
mining exploration are an important stage and form the basis of the process that will be,
implemented for investors to expand mining because currently, the mining industry holds the key
to maintaining the pace of global development. For example, the development of the copper
industry in the electricity industry[5]. This development has had an impact on copper consumption
over the last 30 years as shown in Figure 1.
 Although the demand for minerals globally is very high, we also need to pay attention to
the abundance of these minerals on the earth. Theoretically, global mineral reserves are estimated
to be sufficient to fulfil world mineral demand for the next 50 years[5]. However, the reality is the
estimation of these reserves is highly dependent on the abundance and mineral commodities of
interest to the world. Therefore, an estimate of each mineral reserve is obtained as shown in Figure
2.
 If we reflect on copper, its existence is estimated to be more than 30 years. Although the
mineral reserves look large, we need to observe that these reserves are made from very abundant
deposits and must be considered from various aspects, especially the dynamically moving
geological, engineering, economic, and environmental aspects.

Seeing the high potential of copper, it opens up opportunities for copper companies to run
their business. However, problems in copper exploration arise due to several companies not
following the applicable operational standards. Some negative impacts, especially regarding
environmental issues such as global warming and water pollution caused by implementation of
mining exploration can’t be avoided. Only 2-3 mine companies do reduce and maintain water reuse
in their activities and only 4.4 percent of companies report water pollution reduction actions[6]. The
impact of the risks posed by mineral exploration is shown in Figure 3 [7].

From Figure 3, we can conclude that the risks from mining exploration have an impact on
water sanitation and the release of toxic gases into the air. This is contrary to the purpose of mining
exploration as the realization of SDGs previously mentioned. Therefore, we have to look at mining
from an environmentally sustainable perspective.
 Both the miners and the government are seeking new innovations by combining the
development of technology to reduce mining waste and promoting environmentally friendly and
sustainable mining practices in mineral ore extraction or better known as Green and Climate Smart
Mining. Primarily, the concept of Green and Climate Smart Mining is to use the development of
mining technology which aims to increase the rate of economic growth while being friendly to the
environment because this concept is used to reduce the footprint on the environment caused by
mining exploration activities[8]. The proposed framework contains twenty-five sub-indicators
categorized into six main indicators as shown in Figure 4 [9].

Innovation I: In Situ Leaching Mining (ISL)

Due to the negative impact of conventional copper ore exploration, this impact can be
reduced by minimizing land clearing for copper ore exploration. In situ leaching mining offers a
copper ore mining process by using electrodes as a separating medium between the copper ore and
the surrounding hard rock[10]. This method exploits the ore by dissolving copper using liquid
ferrous sulfuric acid. The output of this method is the absence of large land clearing for exploration
as shown in Figure 5.
 The ISL method process begins with a survey to determine the magnitude of the
hydrological parameters and the fracture distance [10]. These two values are used as reference for
the injection of the electrode so that it matches the target for the presence of copper. A solution of
sulfuric acid or iron sulfate is used to separate the copper from the rock. A precise pattern of
electrode injection is needed to avoid flow channeling between wells. The pattern used is five or
seven patterns according to the characteristics of the area[10].
Innovation II: Mining Exploration using Machine Learning and AI

After injection of the electrodes, the solution containing copper ore will be lifted to the ground
through the recovery well. The process of dissolving copper ore when below the ground surface
must be carried out carefully to avoid carrying other minerals. For this process, copper companies
can use technology in their exploration process. Currently, a technique called Sustainable Mining
by Drilling (SMD) has been developed by Novamera which is basically like a keyhole operation
for mining[11]. This technique uses intelligent sensing (AI) systems and precision excavation
techniques only to pick up ore and leave waste rock on the ground. SMD focuses on steep narrow
veined mineral deposits as shown in figure 7. Therefore, SMD can mine more economically,
sustainably and safely than conventional selective mining methods [12].

The technology that can be applied to support this SMD technique is the use of Digital
Downhole Survey Technology. With the development of downhole analysis tools such as
spectrometers it will be possible to perform analysis of footprints in rock mass in real time and in
situ to help clients to obtain accurate mineral resource data [13]. This technology is used to precisely
determine borehole azimuth and slope measurements to understand exactly where the hole is and
where the core is taken[13].
 This technology combines sensors, machine learning algorithms and drilling technology in
a two-pass system. In the first pass, the miner will drill the slope of the ore body using a diamond
drill to create a pilot hole midway between the suspension wall and the ore vein leg wall and the
drill bit will be guided using the Near Borehole Imaging Tool (NBIT) [11]. Then, on the second pass,
the miner uses a large diameter drill to follow the pilot hole to then excavate the ore as shown in
figure 9.
 By applying the SMD technique, it is expected to support the SDGs by 2030 because when
compared to conventional mining techniques, SMD has a smaller footprint, no blasting, and a very
low leakage rate. This is because the SMD method is highly selective so that miners don’t extract
waste material, much of the tailings produced returns to the borehole as landform tailings. The
SMD technique also observe to greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption as evidenced
by this technique, there has been a 50% or more reduction in energy consumption, and CO2, NOx,
and SOx emissions during mining exploration[11].

Briefly, copper exploration is currently very much needed in the fields of infrastructure,
electricity and manufacturing. This activity will contribute to all aspects of the SDGs. However,
the conventional copper exploration process still has a negative impact on water sanitation and
climate changes. Through the collaboration of in-situ leaching mining with Artificial Intelligent,
the mining process is carried out by reducing the potential for land clearing and groundwater
pollution. This will certainly help relevant stakeholders in harmonizing ore exploration with the
SDGs 2030 goals.
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