Evanghelus Castil Jr.

BSMete V

Leaching calculations
Leaching of copper in Chuquicamata, Chile is being conducted by loading the vats with ore and solutions of recycled lixiviant are added at various intervals. Pregnant solution is also drawn off at intervals in order to allow new recycled solutions to be added. The table shows the amount of solutions added and drawn off as well as the composition of the solutions. The last solution added is plain wash water. 8,212 tons of ore was added which assays 1.6% Cu.

Solution added tons

3,300 2,600 2,100 3,200 700

Solution drawn off % H2SO4

6.8 7.0 5.0 4.9 0

% Cu
3.5 2.2 2.5 3.6 0

tons
2,700 2,300 3,300 3,300

% Cu
4.8 4.2 3.1 2.2

% H2SO4
3.8 5.2 4.8 1.9

Determine the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Draw the schematic diagram of the process and label properly How much copper is in the ore? What is the total copper content of the solution added? What is the total copper content of the solution drawn off? How much copper is in the wash water? How much copper was extracted from the ore? What is the per cent extraction? How much solution was discarded with tailings? How much copper was in the discarded solution? Were you able to recover all the copper? If not, how much was lost?

Given: 8212 tons of ore w/ 1.6% Cu

Solution: 1.

Ore

Solutions added

Vat leaching

Wash water (@5th interval) Purification Recycled lixiviant ( 4 cycles)

Solution drawn off

2. Amount of Cu in ore = 8212 tons (0.016) = 131.39 tons Cu 3. Amount of Cu in soln added = 3300(.035) + 2600(0.022) + 2100(0.025) + 3200(0.036) = 340.40 tons Cu

4. Amount of Cu in soln drawn off = 2700 (0.048) + 2300(0.042) +3300(0.031) + 3300(0.022) + X = 406.1 tons Cu

@ 1st interval Cu drawn off solution = 129.6 tons Cu added = 115.5 tons Cu left in Vat = 131.39 -129.6 + 115.5 =117.29 tons

H2SO4 drawn off solution = 102.6 tons H2SO4 added= 224.4 tons H2SO4 left = 121.8 tons

@ 2nd interval Cu drawn off solution = 96.6 tons Cu added = 57.2 tons Cu left in Vat = 77.892 tons

H2SO4 drawn off solution = 119.6 tons

H2SO4 added= 182 tons H2SO4 left = 184 tons @3rd interval Cu drawn off solution = 102.3 tons Cu added = 52.5 tons Cu left in Vat = 28.092 tons H2SO4 drawn off solution = 158.4 tons H2SO4 added= 105 tons H2SO4 left = 130.8 tons @ 4th interval Cu drawn off solution = 72.6 tons Cu added = 115.2 tons Cu left in Vat = 70.692 tons H2SO4 drawn off solution = 62.7 tons H2SO4 added= 156.8 tons H2SO4 left = 224.9 tons @ 5th interval (add water) Cu drawn off solution = X Cu added = 0 60.7 + X = 70.692 X X = 4.996 tons H2SO4 drawn off solution = Y H2SO4 added= 0

6. Total Cu extracted from ore = Cu in soln drawn off Cu in soln added = 401.1 + X 340.4 = 65.696 tons of Cu 7. % extraction = (Cu extracted / Cu ore) * 100 =(65.696 / 131.392) * 100 = 50%

8. Total Soln discarded w/ tailings = total soln added total soln extracted total soln added = 8300 + 2600 + 2100 + 3200 +700 = 11900tons total soln extracted = 11600 Total Soln discarded w/ tailings = 300 tons of soln

9. Total Cu in discarded soln = total Cu in ore total cu extracted = 131.392 65.696 = 65.696 tons Cu 10. No, 50 % Cu was lost in Vat Leaching.