Journal of Cleaner Production 202 (2018) 321e331

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Journal of Cleaner Production

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Enhancement of copper recovery by acid leaching of high-mud copper

oxides: A case study at Yangla Copper Mine, China
Shenghua Yin a, b, Leiming Wang a, b, *, Aixiang Wu b, Michael L. Free c, Eugie Kabwe d
a
Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education of China for High-Efficient Mining and Safety of Metal Mines, University of Science and Technology Beijing,
Beijing, 100083, China
b
School of Civil and Resource Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China
c
Department of Metallurgical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT84112, USA
d
Department of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 5005, Australia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Poor permeability, high mud and impurities contents, severe curing conditions and ore complexity are
Received 2 April 2018 primary challenges faced by Yangla Copper Mine (YCM) during acid leaching, resulting in a poor 1%
Received in revised form copper extraction after 3 months of traditional leaching. A series of technological improvements, which
12 July 2018
included of antiscalant addition, ore washing, classified crushing and screening, thin-layer conveying and
Accepted 12 August 2018
Available online 16 August 2018
dumping, and mechanical/chemical activation, were applied in YCM to enhance heap permeability and
copper extraction from low-grade copper oxides. These improvements increased copper extraction to
over 60 and the production of cathode copper reached 2500 t/a. Related topics such as: ore surface
Keywords:
Heap leaching
erosion, particle size distribution, heap structure, irrigation rate, and passivation and its effects are also
Copper oxide ore discussed in this study. Even though some of the relevant mechanisms for enhanced recovery are still
Permeability being studied, this successful industrial case provides a good reference for copper oxide mines
Yangla Copper Mine encountering similar problems.
Case study © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Preferential flow

1. Introduction
Hydrometallurgy has been widely applied in metal extraction
from low-grade ores and wastes using heap leaching and other
methods since the 1970s (Petersen, 2016; Yin et al., 2018a, b) due to
advantageous characteristics such as low cost, low environmental
impact, and simplicity (Brierley and Brierley, 2001). Hydrometal-
lurgy plays a key role in recovering uranium (occupied 40%), copper
(occupied 25%) and other critical metal resources around the world.
However, because ore characteristics such as mud and clay
content, particle size distribution, bulk density, surface roughness
and other characteristics can vary significantly (Ghorbani et al.,
2011). Differences in ore characteristics can lead to saturated and
unsaturated regions co-existing inside ore heaps (Yin et al., 2013).
Consequently, preferential flows in macro pores (Wu et al., 2009a;
McBride et al., 2017) and slow-motion capillary driven flow as well
* Corresponding author. Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education of China for
High-Efficient Mining and Safety of Metal Mines, University of Science and Tech-
nology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China.
E-mail address: ustb_wlm@126.com (L. Wang).
as other types of flows (Yin et al., 2016) that are observed (Wu et al.,
2009b) play a role that can lead to a poor and inhomogeneous
extraction rate. Hence, to improve metal extraction rates, pursuing
a better permeability and recovery during heap leaching have
become among the most important parameters and ultimate tar-
gets. Thus, many relative investigations have been carried out to
optimize process and leaching technology. Unlike alkaline leaching
(Yin et al., 2018a, b), it is easy to produce a large amount of insoluble
substances and compaction during acid leaching. For instance, acid
curing and agglomeration technology focused on copper oxide ores
(Lu et al., 2017) and nickel laterites (Quast et al., 2013) were utilized
to improve average heap permeability. Leaching of copper oxides
under alkaline environment was also considered (Tanda et al.,
2017). Design of gold extraction process has been enhanced based
on a case-based reasoning system by some researchers (Rintala
et al., 2017). To improve the permeability of oxide copper heap,
the effect of sulfuric acid on hydro-mechanical properties is studied
via friction angle, slake durability indices (Ghasemzadeh et al.,
2018). Optimization of flow rate and other characteristics have
been performed by others (Mellado et al., 2011). Moreover, optimal
design and planning of heap leaching was accomplished using
mixed-integer nonlinear programming that was generated to

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.08.122
0959-6526/© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
322 S. Yin et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 202 (2018) 321e331
control heap structure (Trujillo et al., 2014). Also, enhance leaching
of copper oxides is carried out using different acid solutions
included of HCl, H2SO4 and HNO3and its leaching mechanism is
studied (Habbache et al., 2009). Recently, potential effects of heap
structure on metal extraction were common problems faced by
researchers, and regulatory issues have attracted more and more
attention (Hao et al., 2016). Curing and associated precipitation of
compounds such as calcium sulfates can also be important in
copper heap leaching (Dhawan et al., 2013). Mines around the
world have evaluated and implemented strategies to mitigate the
challenges associated with a variety of ore characteristics. For
instance, to ease the compaction of ore heap, the technological
methods are utilized in the Tuwu Copper Mine located in the Gobi
Desert, in which the heap height is 2e4 m and percentage of fine
ore is less than 8% (Liu et al., 2016; Ilankoon et al., 2018). Sarch-
eshmeh Copper Mine uses the sulfuric acid solution to extract
copper from oxide ores in Iran (Shayestehfar et al., 2008), similarly,
malachite-atacamite ore of Disele Copper Mine is rich in high-
content of silca gangues and SiO2, the sulfuric acid solution is
used to extract valuable metal and main parameters such as particle
size distribution, initial concentration of acid solution are studied
(Lwambiyi et al., 2009). However, for the copper oxides heap with
lower permeability, the systemic technological methods and in-
novations for industrial leaching chains are still insufficient.
Yangla Copper Mine is copper oxide mine located in the Yunnan
Province, and it used to be faced with some challenges during the
bioleaching operations and make it nearly closed. Based on the
industrial leaching plant’s technological experiments and records,
the initial heap leaching was determined to be unsuccessful for the
following reasons.
a) Ore complexity: The ore deposit evaluated consisted of
predominantly copper oxide minerals (Yang et al., 2012) such
as malachite (Cu2(OH)2CO3), cuprite (Cu2O), chrysocolla ((Cu,
Al)2H2Si2O5(OH)4$nH2O) and chessylite (Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2),
making the ore somewhat complex. The proportion of alka-
line minerals (CaO, Al2O3) reached about 18.3% and these
alkaline minerals consumed a large amount of leaching so-
lution and contributed to precipitation of undesirable com-
pounds such as gypsum that further reduced permeability
and extraction of copper.
b) Excessive fines: Fine particles such as clays and other parti-
cles that undergo chemical degradation accounted for
approximately half of the ore. Clay minerals played a nega-
tive role in extraction by (Wu et al., 2007) forming sediment
layers or ore coating layers and contributed to accelerated
clogging of flow channels during heap leaching. Besides,
limonite reserved inside oxide ores contained copper which
tends to form mud, and its degradation accounted for an
increase of 41.31% in the proportion of fine particles. As
Fig. 1(a) shows, accumulation of leaching solution and sedi-
mentation of muds co-existing on the top surface of ore
heaps, restricting or “blinding” primary ore heap and
reducing the extraction rate. Fig. 1(b) shows related precip-
itation and cementing of particles together.
c) Poor permeability: Due to the high fine particle content,
combined with compaction by ore haul trucks the perme-
ability of the initial test heap was poor. Small-scale experi-
ments to determine the relationship between permeability
coefficient and compaction coefficient carried out. These
experiments illustrated that permeability decreased
remarkably accompanied with increase of heap compaction
as shown in Fig. 2, and it reveals that permeability deterio-
rated especially in the upper section of heap under
compaction effect of trucks and upper ores (Miao et al.,
2017). Changes of hydraulic conductivity accompanied with
leaching time were explored in an industrial pilot test (see
Fig. 3). Results showed that permeability was lower and
copper oxide ores inside heap were leached slowly especially
in the initial 100 min. However, hydraulic conductivity
rapidly increased due to formation of preferential flow that
leaching solution flow on the surface of heaps instead of
through the initial regions of this heap (McBride et al., 2016),
at the same time, massive runoffs on the surface of industrial
heap were observed. After around 300 min, clogging of acid
curing started to appear, making pores closed, thereby
reducing flows through the heap.
d) Passivation: The formation of insoluble substances like
CaSO4 formed as shown in Fig. 1(b). We’ve selected micro
areas and carried out the SEM-EDS scanning tests shown in
Fig. 1(c). There are plenty of elements such as S, Ca and O
gathered in the similar regions of Fig. 3(c), and it inferred
that there are plenty of CaSO4 existed on the surface of ore
particles after acid leaching, which is judged by distribution
results of major element compositions. The formation of
these compounds is believed to have coated or passivated
some of the desired copper minerals. In addition, the for-
mation of insoluble compounds resulted in cementing of ore
particles locally, making it difficult for leaching solution to
flow through the heap.
In this study, to improve the copper extraction rate, enhance
acid leaching process and get rid of dilemmas in leaching plant of
Yangla Copper Mine, an evaluation of challenges and mitigation
strategies, which include antiscalant addition, ore washing, size
classification, moderated heap height, and chemical mechanical
activation, for acid leaching of high-clay copper oxide ore found in
the Yangla Copper Mine in China was performed and discussed.
2. Material and methods
2.1. Description of Yangla Copper Mine
Yangla Copper Mine (YCM), situated in Yunnan Province of
China, is located in the Hengduan Mountains which is the longest
and widest typical north-south mountain range in China. The mine
site, which includes three mining areas named Linong, Lunong and
Jiangbian, respectively, is 8 km long from north to south, 3e5 km in
width, and occupy 35 km2. Potential copper resources reach 1.3e1.5
million tons. Under coupled effects of magmatic activity, complex
structure and strata, YCM is considered as porphyry-skarn type of
copper deposit with significant alterations of surrounding rocks.
Huge differences such as average oxidation degree, mineral
composition, and grade occur in the mine sites, making copper
oxides challenging to process by conventional mining methods.
Mining production of YCM has started formally by surface
mining (Lunong mining area) and underground mining (Linong
mining area). In 2004, YCM was funded and co-built by Tibetan
Autonomous Prefecture of De ^qe
^n and Yunnan Copper (Group) Co.,
Ltd. To recover additional copper resources, in May of 2006, YCM
decided to build a hydrometallurgical processing facility (planned
5000t/a) to process complex copper oxides while other sulfide ores
are still processed by conventional minerals processing.
The hydrometallurgical processing facility was built in
September of 2007 and industrial experiments of heap leaching
were carried out to evaluate processing parameters. Primary oxide
ores were crushed less than 15 mm by two-stages of crushing.
These ores, whose diameter ranged from 0 mm to 15 mm, were not
size classified. One test heap, whose total weight of ores exceeded
100,000 tons, was dumped directly using small haul trucks (the
 S. Yin et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 202 (2018) 321e331 323

Fig. 1. Sulphates precipitation, leachates accumulation and leached substances testing of YCM’s leaching plant before technological disposal.

Fig. 2. Relationship of compaction and permeability coefficient.

maximum load reached 10 tons). The thickness of each ore layer was terminated due to its extremely low extraction of less than 1%
was around 2e3 m. Leaching solution (25 g/L sulfuric acid solution) after 3 months. Poor permeability also resulted in undesirable
was sprayed on the heap in 12 h on/off cycles a rate of 20 L/(m2$h). collateral effects (Erguler and Erguler, 2015) driven by acid rock
However, in November of 2007, this exploration of heap leaching drainage (ARD).
324 S. Yin et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 202 (2018) 321e331
Fig. 3. Relationship of hydraulic conductivity and leaching time.
2.2. Characteristics of ore samples
Because the depth of mineral deposits in YCM is shallow and
weathering effects are notable, the proportion of oxide ores is
significant (Zaw et al., 2007). Based on the phase analysis results
shown in Tables 1 and 2, in YCM, the Cu grade is 1.06% and copper
oxide ores accounted for more than 70% of the available resources
(free copper oxides, 37.74% and combined copper oxide, 33.96%),
copper sulfide ores accounted for more than 27%. Over 18.3% of
total minerals is alkaline minerals included of malachite, cuprite
and chrysocolla mainly, these oxides could consume lots of acid
solutions. Besides, the content of copper in natural copper and
chalcopyrite is less than 4% of the total. Other metal and mineral
resources include Fe (11.28%), CaO (10.68%) and Al2O3 (7.62%), and
the major gangue component is SiO2 (47.78%).
2.3. Analytical methods and equipment
Particle size distributions of copper oxide samples were deter-
mined using a laser-based particle size Analyzer (Winner 2000;
Winner Particle, China). The pH values were obtained using a pH
meter (PH-620, Chemins, China). Micro surface morphology of ore
particle surfaces was obtained using a field emission scanning
electron microscope (FE SEM, JSM-6701 F, JEOL, Japan). Concen-
tration of copper in the PLS was tested using an X-ray fluorescence
analyzer (DF-5700-III, DFMC, China). Moreover, nuclear density
Table 1
Element analysis of copper oxides in YCM.
Element Cu Fe SiO2 CaO Al2O3 MgO
Wt.% 1.06 11.28 47.78 10.68 7.62 1.35
gauge (501DR) measured the heap compactions and the perme-
ability testing system (BTA) measured permeability of the heap.
Moreover, the permeability test adopts the method of column
leaching experiment, and the scale inhibitor is relied on shake flask.
The copper extraction rate before and after flipping is obtained by
sampling on-site PLS and standing process, then, we test the copper
ion concentration regularly.
3. Description of technological improvements at YCM
Faced with significant challenges mentioned previously, YCM
started to discuss novel copper leaching methods that are suitable
to the YCM site in May of 2008. Ultimately, the combination of
stirred tank leaching and heap leaching and a series of enhanced
leaching additives were explored and later utilized simultaneously.
YCM has now finished capital construction for the hydrometallur-
gical processing facility (producing around 2000 t/a copper). The
schematic diagram of ore pretreatments and leaching processes of
YCM are shown in Fig. 4.
The Materials handling of YCM involves solids, liquids and solid-
liquid mixtures, each of which are identified by different types of
lines in Fig. 4. After crushing, coarser material (þ12.5 mm) is
transported into the A zone. Crushed ore (1e12.5 mm) is mixed
with large particles and subsequently processed using a XK-
2000  8000 washing tank (1200e2880 t/d). Coarser crushed ore
particles (5e12.5 mm) are separated from the washing system and
transported into A zones. Solid-liquid mixtures (1e5 mm) were
transported and processed by FG-20 spiral classifiers (3900 t/d). To
enhance connections amongst adjacent pores, plant fibers were
added and mixed with fine ores (1e5 mm) which were then
S
dumped into central regions in the heap. Fine particles (1 mm)
were dumped in the outermost regions. Further, different irrigation
0.46
rates were set up for regions with different particle size
 S. Yin et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 202 (2018) 321e331
Table 2
Phase analysis results of Cu.
Mineral phase Free copper oxide Combined copper oxide
Cu grade, % 0.40 0.36
Wt.% 37.74 33.96
Fig. 4. Schematic diagram of ore pretreatments and leaching process of YCM.
distributions at YCM. Overflow mixtures, which were included of
fine ores (1 mm), impurity (1 mm) and liquid, were concen-
trated and transported into the stirred leaching system. PLS was
transported to the solvent extraction-electrowinning (SX-EW) fa-
cility to produce cathode copper. Besides, flipping and extra anti-
scalents were adopted to enhance permeability of the heap at YCM.
The heap was located in groove-shaped, flat areas of a natural
valley where altitude was between 2590 m and 2670 m. Two liners
were used. The bottom layer was polyvinyl chloride that was 2 mm
thick. The upper layer consisted of High Density Polyethylene
(HDPE) boards that were layed as 57e92 m by 37.8e48 m sections
to line the overall 20,105 m2 heap. An aerial view of ore heap and
conveying system are shown in Fig. 5. Based on the industrial ex-
periments, we could recycle around 80% of the total acid solution.
The acid consumed is mainly caused by water vapor evaporation,
leaching reaction and a small part of leakage, and the further re-
searches are about to be carried out. The heap was divided into
20 m lifts that were leached for 60 days. Each lift was divided into
6e8 sub-lifts or layers with an average height of 2e3 m. Leaching
residues were not removed after being leached and ore was dum-
ped on original ore layers until the heap reached its ultimate height,
which is approximately 20 m. Comparing Fig. 1(a) and Fig. 5(c),
Fig. 5. Aerial view of industrial heap and its dumping process by belt transportation.
325
Primary copper sulfide Secondary copper sulfide Total
0.18 0.12 1.06
16.98 11.32 100
there was no large-scale outward flow on upper surface of heaps.
Moreover, after implementing the technological improvements, the
hydrometallurgical processing facility at YCM achieved its copper
extraction of 60% and its production of cathode copper above
2500 t/a, despite the associated high mud content.
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Permeability and leaching
Unsaturated and saturated regions co-exist inside industrial
heaps (Ilankoon and Neethling, 2016). Therefore, permeability
enhancement is a key concern in solution mining, especially for
copper oxide ores with substantial fine particle content. Acid con-
sumption is another area of concern due to the high consumption of
18e20 tons of acid per ton of copper at YCM, which corresponds to
34% of the overall production cost, and high acid consumption also
leads to mineral dissolution and subsequent precipitation that
commonly reduce permeability and restrict leaching. Accordingly, a
parametric evaluation of sulfuric acid concentration, irrigation rate,
particle size distribution, and head permeability was performed to
explore the associated effects on permeability of ore at YCM.
326 S. Yin et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 202 (2018) 321e331
Results from the experiments involving the test conditions
shown in Table 3 indicate that heap permeability was mainly
related to particle size distribution and irrigation rate. The data in
Fig. 6(a) suggest that hydraulic conductivity was directly propor-
tional to particle size. The hydraulic conductivity for all experi-
mental groups decreased gradually because mobile fine particles
were transported then aggregated, blocked pores and compressed
the ore heap (Zhang et al., 2018). Chemical and X-Ray Diffraction
analysis of leaching residues before and after leaching process
showed that content of Fe ion remained nearly the same before and
after leaching while the content of Ca2þ distinctly increased by 5
times compared with initial ores, indicating that precipitation of
gypsum and an associated passivation phenomenon occurred at
YCM’s heap. Fig. 6(b) shows a corresponding decrease in copper
extraction as particle size decreases.
As Fig. 6(b) shows, the rate of leaching is initially fast for the
tests with fine particles (A3 and A6). However, after several days of
leaching the overall recovery of copper from the tests with fine
particles decreases. High-content of sulfuric acid solution promoted
formation of gypsum. Based on these results, YCM adopted a sul-
furic acid solution with a content of 25 g/L. To avoid the formation
of large-scale unsaturated regions inside heaps, a lower irrigation
rate was set up in regions with fine ores or powders.
4.2. Effect of antiscalents
According to X-ray diffraction analysis results, passivation on
ore surface was related primarily to calcium sulphates dihydrate
(CaSO4$2H2O) formation. The presence of high sulfate content in
the leaching solution resulted in the formation of gypsum, which
tended to facilitate agglomeration of fine particles and passivate
particles at YCM. Correspondingly, antiscalent additives were
evaluated to determine their effects on gypsum formation and
associated passivation and agglomeration.
To confirm the optimal antiscalents, selected experiments were
carried out at YCM. Ten types of antiscalents were evaluated (Citric
Acid (CA), Sodium Hexametaphosphate (SHMP), Ethyl-
enediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt (EDTA-2Na), Polyacrylic
acid (PAA), 2-Acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid (AMPS),
1-Hydroxyethylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid (HEDP), Nitrilotri-
methylene Triphosphonic Acid (NTA), Hydrolytic polymaleic an-
hydride (HPMA), Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and Sodium
laurylsulfonate (SLS)) The data in Fig. 7 (a) and (b) show that HPMA,
ATMP and HEDP gypsum formation remarkably. Further testing
with changes in pH values, dosage of antiscalents, mixing of
different antiscalents was also performed, and the results confirm
the optimal additives are HPMA and ATMP (HPMA:ATMP ¼ 5:1).
The data in Fig. 7 (b) clearly show that concentration of Ca2þ rapidly
increased to 3.9 g/L with a lower concentration (0.3 mg/L), and it
indicated that antiscalents promote the destroy process of high
concentration of calcium sulphates dihydrate. Thus, suitable anti-
scalents were confirmed in YCM. Industrial concentration of anti-
scalents was confirmed as 200 mg/L. Based on the industrial
experiences of YCM, pH value was positively correlated with anti-
scalents and was negatively correlated with permeability. Passiv-
ation such as Fe(OH)3 was exacerbated especially when pH value
Table 3
Experiments scheme of column leaching under different conditions.
Parameters A1 A2 A3 A4 A5
Concentration of sulfuric acid (g/L) 25 30 35 40 45
Irrigation rate (L/m2$h1) 40 60 20 60 20
Particle size distribution (mm) þ5 1e5 1 þ5 1e5
was more than 2.00. Thus, antiscalents was not suggested to be
added until pH value of PLS was more than 2.00 and the additive
frequency of antiscalents was 1 time per5 days. Also, newly anti-
scalents was added when leaching solution circulated once.
The SEM images and X-ray diffraction results show that there
was massive calcium sulfate (CaSO4) formation on the ore surface
without antiscalents. Comparing Fig. 8 (a) and (b), it’s easily
inferred that CaSO4 crystal, which was dense and hard, attached on
ore surface and formed a passivation substance layer, impeding
extraction of sustained internal minerals. On the contrary, it was
observed that ore surface appeared relatively smoother and the
initial crystal structure of CaSO4 was distorted and destroyed seri-
ously under effects of antiscalents. Chelation effect of antiscalents
counteracted passivation formation of CaSO4 in some way. Even
though passivation was not eliminated, these morphology changed
from dense substances to loose substances, realizing the destroy of
passivation substances layers to some extent.
4.3. Effect of ore washing
Due to the high concentration of fine ore particles (r < 1 mm) at
YCM, it’s inappropriate and ineffective to dumped these fine ores
onto heaps directly. In YCM, ore washing process was adopted to
remove fine particles as shown in Fig. 4. Ore washing in YCM mainly
focused on finer ores (r < 12.5 mm) which were obtained after fine
crushing and this ore washing process was divided “1st stage
washing and 2nd stage screening”.
A comparison of particle size distributions of ores before and
after washing process is shown in Fig. 9. It is clear that the pro-
portion of fine particles decreased significantly after being washed
because very fine particles were substantially eliminated with the
washing solution. Fig. 9 shows the proportion of coarser ore par-
ticles (þ1 mm) increased from 59.58% to 90.84% and ores
(1e22 mm) reached 51.54% after washing. These washed ores were
classified and dumped in different locations in the heaps. The fines
were leached in stirred vessels in the minerals processing facility.
Thus, for similar mines containing high fines contents the process
of washing increases heap porosity and permeability.
4.4. Effect of classified crushing and screening
In order to improve heap leaching the particle size distribution
must by appropriately controlled. Before dumping ores collected
from underground and surface mining areas were crushed and
screened in three stages. This three-stage crushing and screening
process was carried out in YCM as presented in Table 4.
After three stages of crushing and screening, coarser ores
(r > 5 mm) and fine ores (1 mm < r < 5 mm) were sent to heaps and
slurrys contained fine ores (r < 1 mm) were sent to the mineral
processing facility for stirred tank leaching. The application of
classified crushing and screening resulted in an appropriate size
distribution for leaching without significant fine particle migration
and blind leaching zones inside heaps (Zhang and Liu, 2017).
4.5. Thin-layer dumping and sprinkling irrigation
Reduced porosity due to the ore weight and stacking were
manifested in the bottom of heaps as expected (Veglio  et al., 2001).
At YCM compaction was mitigated by conveyors and thin-layer
dumping as shown in Fig. 10. A 200 m, stationary-type belt
conveyor was constructed adjacent to heaps. Ores were transferred
A6
from underground/surface mining areas by stationary-type con-
50 veyors and dumped onto heaps by movable-type conveyors. To
40 facilitate the collection of PLS, the average slope of YCM’s heap was
1
5 e8 .
 S. Yin et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 202 (2018) 321e331 327

Fig. 6. Key parameters of permeability and leaching with leaching time under different groups.

Fig. 7. Concentration of Ca2þ under addition of different antiscalents.

Fig. 8. Surface tomography of ores before and after addition of antiscalents.

Irrigation rate is a key parameter in the operation of heap (Lizama et al., 2005). Due to clogging of drip emitters, sprinking
leaching process (Liu and Hashemzadeh, 2017). During heap irrigation was adopted using ABS-16 nozzles. Each pipe contained
leaching, irrigation rate is influenced by many factors such as the around 15 nozzles and was 60 m in length, covering an area of
intermittent liquid addition (Fernando et al., 2018), heap height 240 m2 per pipe section. Nozzles were located in a planned square
328 S. Yin et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 202 (2018) 321e331

Fig. 9. Particle size distribution before and after ore washing process.

Table 4
Parameters of ore crushing and screening equipment in YCM.

Order Disposal process Equipment type Feed size/mm Discharge size/mm Production capacity/(t$h1) Motor power/kw
st
1 Coarse crushing PEF 600  900 500 120 116.79 75
2nd Fine crushing PXH-3C 150 12.5 123.75 220
3rd Oscillating screening SZZ 1500  4000 75 5 250 7.5

Fig. 10. Industrial spots of belt transportation and thin-layer dumping process.

grid and an effective coverage 16 m2 for each nozzle. Concentration irrigation rates were evaluated for corresponding regions of heaps
of sulfuric acid was set from 20 g/L to 30 g/L. In order to reduce in YCM. Specifically, an initial irrigation rate of 25 L/m2$h1 for
formation of preferential flow and blind leaching regions, different central regions of heap (þ1 mm). In contrast the irrigation rate was
 S. Yin et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 202 (2018) 321e331
set at 10e15 L/m2$h1 for peripheral regions (1 mm) of heaps.
4.6. Effect of mechanical activation
For leaching process of every ore layers, reversals of heap could
break through acid curing and reconstruct heap permeability
channels (Dreisinger, 2006). At YCM, to enhance leaching process,
the upper layers of ores heap were termly flipped by excavators.
During this process, the heap was loosening effectively using ex-
cavators’ buckets. Comparison pilot experiment of flipping heaps
and non-flipping heaps was carried out in YCM and results were
shown in Fig. 11. Flipping date of ore heap was enacted in the 30th
days of leaching process and flipping process was carried out to
ameliorate pore structure for the upper layers of heap mainly.
Under flipping and digging effects of excavators, the initial curing
structure of heap was broken that massive preferential flow and
blind leaching zones were eliminated. It revealed that flipping
heaps appeared a better leachable potential that extraction rate
increased from 48.3% to 60.4%, while extraction rate of non-flipping
heap only increased from 45.8% to 47.9%. However, based on pilot
experiments of YCM, too-frequent flipping process is not suitable
and not suggested for higher extraction effect because the opera-
tion costs and energy consumptions also increased by 10%. Based
on industrial experiences of YCM, the frequency of flipping was
proposed less than 2 times for same ore layers.
Except mechanical flipping processes, YCM also considered and
employed novel exploration using plant fibers to enhance
Fig. 11. Relationship of copper extraction rate and leaching time comparing flipping/no-flipping heaps.
329
permeability effect. If plant fibers could be added and distributed
evenly inside fine heaps, leaching solution will easily seep into the
internal zones of ore heap alongside diversion channels con-
structed by fibers, which can improve the permeability of the ore
heap, especially under the condition of atmospheric heap
(Basturkcu et al., 2018). In YCM which is located northwest region
of Yunnan Province closed to the Tibetan Plateau, cheap plant fibers
were obtained and separated from surrounding material such as
hullessbarley, wheat and corns. These plant fibers were cut to
around 100e200 mm and mixed with fine ores before dumping,
thereby improving connectivity of pores inside heaps. Even though
these processes had been carried out and obtained good extraction
efficiency, additional study of the enhanced leaching mechanism,
optimal additive proportion, and appropriate addition point is still
needed.
4.7. Chemical removal of impurities
Since SX-EW process is a liquid concentration process that tar-
gets copper, remaining non-target metal elements such as Fe2þ,
Fe3þ, Al3þ and others accumulate constantly (Eksteen et al., 2017).
As Table 1 showed, chemical composition of ores was complex.
Thus, the variety of impurities is significant. Even though the pro-
portion of oxide in the ores is high, there are still plenty of sulfides
in the ores containing 28.3% of the copper. Copper sulfide ores were
leached by sulfuric acid solution and significant passivation by
substances such as jarosite is also possible (Malenga et al., 2015) as
330 S. Yin et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 202 (2018) 321e331
shown by Eq. (1).
Fe2 ðSO4 Þ3 þ 12H2 O þ M2 SO4 /M2 Fe6 ðSO4 Þ4 ðOH12 Þ þ 6H2 SO4
(1)
Where M represents NH4þ
and other alkaline metal ions. Due to
the high concentration of non-target metal ions in heaps at YCM,
the formation of scaling substances is accelerated, especially when
pH value of PLS increased. The high content of Fe2O3 in ore of 10%
increases acid consumption and iron-based precipitate formation.
Thus, PLS was pretreated to reduce the concentration of easy-
scaling metal components inside PLS mentioned above using jar-
osite processing method in YCM. However, its optimal component
and technological process is still ameliorated in YCM.
5. Conclusions
Solution mining is an environmental-friendly, low-cost and
efficient method that is utilized widely for extraction of metals such
as copper, gold, uranium and nickel. To recover copper resources
from low-grade copper oxide ores with high concentrations of fine
particles and other impurities, YCM established a hydrometallurgy
strategy using heap leaching. However, due to the ore complexity,
poor permeability, high concentration of fine particles, severe
precipitation and passivation, and the use of haul trucks for ore
placement, hydraulic conductivity declined rapidly, resulting in
large-area surface runoff and very poor recoveries that led to
closure of the operation after 3 months.
In order to establish successful heap leaching at YCM, a series of
technological improvements were implemented, including anti-
scalent addition, ore washing, classified crushing and screening,
thin-layer dumping by conveyors and mechanical/chemical acti-
vation. These changes improved average copper extraction to more
than 60% and the annual production of electrode copper reached
2500 t. These technological improvements to the hydrometallur-
gical processing facility resulted in net profits of more than 20
million dollars per year. The improvements at YCM serve as a model
for other operations experiencing similar challenges.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to acknowledge financial supports from
National Science Foundation for Excellent Young Scholars of China
(51722401), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Univer-
sities (FRF-TP-18-003C1), Key Program of National Natural Science
Foundation of China (51734001), and thanks all reviewers’ precious
comments to promote this paper significantly.
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