Leaching: a solution adapted to your ores
Leaching: a solution adapted to your ores
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In a deposit, the ores consist of different metal elements that are more or less difficult to dissolve; this dissolution is necessary for their extraction and recovery. To exploit a deposit optimally, it is therefore necessary to determine the performance of the different possible solution processes (leaching) and the most suitable reagents. The challenge is to determine these parameters to ensure the greatest profitability of the operation.
CIME has the necessary equipment to carry out leaching under different conditions: in dynamic mode (agitated tanks) or in static mode (heap leaching or In Situ Recovery), pressure (autoclaves), atmospheric pressure, ambient or high temperature.
- A wide variety of equipment (autoclaves, tanks, columns, mixers, agglomerators, presses, etc.) allowing all types of leaching to be tested.
- Three laboratories dedicated exclusively to leaching.
CIME has expertise in all types of acid or basic leaching, as well as the proper equipment for laboratory-scale testing.
CIME has implemented tests at different sites to determine expected performance in terms of recovery rates, reagent consumption or impurities based on operating conditions:
- Uranium leachate under pressure in a carbon medium (SIMO Lodève in France).
- Leaching by impregnation/ripening of uranium (Somaïr and Cominak in Niger).
- Agitated tank leaching of uranium (McClean in Canada).
- Gold cyanide leaching (Le Bourneix in France).
- Carbonate leaching (Lodève plant in France and Trekkopje project in Namibia).
- Heap leaching of uranium (Somaïr in Niger).
- Uranium leaching by ISR (Tortkuduk in Kazakhstan).
- Performance analysis and consideration of potential gains
- Consulting (decision support) on the most suitable process according to the operating conditions
- Setting operational parameters for productivity and economic gain
