Simulation technology to support base metal ore heap leaching

Abstract

A simulation framework is outlined for the analysis of the operation of both the heap and the associated water balance circuit for the leaching of primary metal ores. The heap simulation is based on a detailed computational model of the leaching process. The process chemistry, including reactants in the gas–liquid–solid matrix, gas flow, variably saturated liquid flow, species transport in both phases, heat transport, and biomass growth and catalysis, is accounted for in models that are equally applicable to simple and complex geometries. The leaching models are contained within the PHYSICA computational modelling environment that includes a powerful multiphase computational fluid dynamic (CFD) solver enabling reactive flow simulation through arbitrarily complex geometries. Tools have been developed in one-, two- and three-dimensions to capture a variety of aspects of the leaching process behaviour. By careful choice of tools, the framework can be applied to a wide range of leaching problems from small scale (e.g. analysis of column tests and drip emitter spacing) through to full scale heap simulation. An optimised version of the heap leach model is itself embedded within a simulation environment that exploits the BILCO mass balance software to enable dynamic simulation of the water balance within the whole plant circuit.

Keywords

LEACHING BIOLEACHING NUMERICAL MODELLING REACTIVE TRANSPORT

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