Yousef Ghorbani

Heap Leaching Technology—Current State, Innovations, and Future Directions: A Review

ABSTRACT Heap leaching is a well-established extractive metallurgical technology enabling the economical processing of various kinds of low-grade ores, which could not otherwise be exploited. However, despite much progress since it was first applied in recent times, the process remains limited by low recoveries and long extraction times. It is becoming increasingly clear that the choice of heap leaching as a suitable technology to process a particular mineral resource, which is both environmentally sound and economically viable, very much depends on having a comprehensive understanding of the underlying fundamental mechanisms of the processes and how they interact with the particular mineralogy of the ore body under consideration. This paper provides an introduction to the theoretical background of various heap leach processes, offers a scientific and patent literature overview on technology developments in commercial heap leaching operations around the world, identifies factors that drive the selection of heap leaching as a processing technology, describes challenges to exploiting these innovations, and concludes with a discussion on the future of heap leaching.

A review of sustainable development in the Chilean mining sector: past, present and future

Abstract Chile is the principal producer of copper with a total of 5.8 million tonnes fine copper production in 2013. Chilean mining industry currently faces a projected increase in waste production, depleting water resources in the arid mining regions of the north and a lack of fossil fuel energy sources. In this study, a review of the historical background of environmental practices in Chile is presented, focused between 1970 and 2010. A review of the current state of sustainable development, comprising energy, water, stakeholder participation, environmental impacts and institutional decentralisation in the mining industry is presented.