Pretreatment of Copper Sulphide Ores Prior to Heap Leaching: A Review
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. General Aspects
2.1. The Current Situation of Hydrometallurgy in Chile
- Encuentro óxidos: This mining site will make use of the Tesoro Plant (heap leaching) when its mineral reserves run out. It should be noted that this mining company is adjacent to Centinela Oxides [1].
- Escondida: According to the projections, their oxide resources will be exhausted by 2025, but they would still have the run-of-mine (ROM), which corresponds to the low-grade minerals (dump leaching) that were extracted and sent to a large heap. These extracted minerals were not previously crushed, and will continue to supply the solvent extraction and electrowinning plants [1].
- Chuquicamata óxidos: The run-of-mine of this mining company could deliver solutions to the solvent extraction and electrowinning plants of Chuquicamata. However, the cathode production will be affected, which is estimated to decrease compared to that obtained in 2014 through the hydrometallurgical pathway [1].
2.2. General Aspects of Copper Sulphide Leaching
3. Pretreatments Methods
3.1. Mechanical Operations
3.2. Agglomeration and Curing
3.2.1. Agglomeration with Calcium Chloride
3.2.2. The Use of Other Salts
Effect of the Addition of Chloride
Effect of Nitrate Addition
Effect of Curing Time
Effect of Temperature on Curing
4. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Neira, A.; Pizarro, D.; Quezada, V.; Velásquez-Yévenes, L. Pretreatment of Copper Sulphide Ores Prior to Heap Leaching: A Review. Metals 2021, 11, 1067. https://doi.org/10.3390/met11071067
Neira A, Pizarro D, Quezada V, Velásquez-Yévenes L. Pretreatment of Copper Sulphide Ores Prior to Heap Leaching: A Review. Metals. 2021; 11(7):1067. https://doi.org/10.3390/met11071067
Chicago/Turabian StyleNeira, Andrés, Diana Pizarro, Víctor Quezada, and Lilian Velásquez-Yévenes. 2021. "Pretreatment of Copper Sulphide Ores Prior to Heap Leaching: A Review" Metals 11, no. 7: 1067. https://doi.org/10.3390/met11071067