a rated maximum capacity of ~ 250 kg /h, but the
actual feed capacity naturally depends on the nature
of the material.
Mark VIlA Reichert spiral concentrator
The operating principle of this spiral has been
described elsewhere (Balderson, 1982; Forssberg and
Johansson, 1984; Sivamohan and Forssberg, 1985).
Pulp density and feed rate are two decisive param-
eters in gravity concentrators based on the principle
of flowing film concentration. The artificial ore
(galena and sand mixture) was used to study the
influence of these two variables on the performance
of the said spiral. The pulp density was varied between
400/0 to 600/0 solids by weight, and the feed rate was
varied between 0.6 and 4 t/h. A selectivity factor can
be defined as E =R(Pb) -R(sand), where R(Pb)
and R(sand) are the lead and sand recoveries, respec-
tively, in the concentrate product. The experimental
results indicated that the best selectivity is obtained
at higher pulp density and lower feed rate. Selectivity
falls off very sharply at higher feed rates. A feed rate
of <3 t/h is found to be the optimum. Further, the
results suggested that very high recoveries down to
"'20 urn are possible under optimum conditions.
Summary
Knelson separator
• Feed rate and water pressure are decisive param-
eters. They seem to be closely related to the size
TECHNICAL NOTE
Geochemical modeling of in situ leaching
in a heterogeneous porous medium
n.n. Schmidt and S.E. Follin
Introduction
Mineral recovery from an in situ leaching operation
is determined by the often complex interaction of
hYdrology, mass transport, and chemical kinetics. The
operating conditions of many pilot and production
Scale uranium leaching operations involve hetero-
geneities in aquifer permeability. Differences in
Permeability may be naturally occurring, the result of
differences in grain size or cementation, or they may
be induced by leaching activity. Variations in permea-
bility directly affect the fluid flow streamline pattern,
OUid flux, and so also leaching geochemistry and
Uranium recovery. An in situ leaching hydrology
model (ISL) and a mass transport-oxidation rate
model (ISLGC) have been developed for use in making
S~te specific predictions of the leachability and produc-
~lve potential of heterogeneous ore deposits, and for
he optimal design of leachant injection and recovery
?perations. The two models are linked by output and
lllput requirements.
MINERALS AND METALLURGICAL PROCESSING
distribution of solids and other heavy mineral contents.
• Gold recoveries of 70% to 75% have been achieved
from auriferous sulfide ores. Concentration ratios of
20 to 25: 1 are possible . Gold recovery is relatively
moderate (20% to 23%) in the fraction smaller than
37 urn , but substantially higher (50% to 60%) in the
fraction smaller than 74 /-1m .
• A test with an artificial ore containing ' 'free gold
particles" (milled lead shot) gave 40% recovery and
850/0 Pb grade in the <38 /-1m fraction . Overall recovery
was 60.30/0 at a grade of 26.25% Pb .
Reichert Mark VIlA spiral concentrator
• The optimum pulp density is 55% to 60% solids by
weight.
• The optimum feed rate is <3 t/h .
• Recoveries down to about 20 /-1m are considered
to be impressive . •
References
Anon ., 1983, Bullet in on the Knels on Con centrator, Bateman Eng inee ring Inc ..
Col orado , USA .
Balde rson , G.F., 1982, " Rec ent Deveiopments and Appli cation s of Spir al Concen -
tr ator s," prep rint , The Aus . IMM North·We st Queen sland Branch Mill Operato rs'
Confe rence , September, pp . 57·73.
Fors sberg, E., and Johansso n, B., 1984, " A presentation ot gravity eq uipment fo r
treatment of fine material ," MinFo Report 1902, Techni c al University o f Lulea .
Sweden , 32 pp .
Sivamohan , R., and For ssberg, E., 1985, " Principies of Spirai Con cent rat ion ,"
International Journal 01 Mineral Processing. Vol. 15. pp . 173·181.
The ISL hydrology model generates a leachant flow
streamline pattern between injection and recovery
points in a flow domain incorporating regions of
arbitrary permeability. The ISLGC transport model
describes the changing solution concentrations of
uranium and oxygen and the changing mineral con-
centrations of uranium and pyrite resulting from
convection, longitudinal dispersion , and oxidation
reactions.
ISL hydrology model
Basic equations
The differential equation for steady-state two-
dimensional flow in an isotropic porous medium is
R.D. Schmidt and S.E. Follin are with the US Bureau of Mines,
Minneapol is, MN. SME preprint 85·348, SME Fall Meeting,
Albuquerque, NM, October 1985. Manuscript October 1985.
MAY 1987 89
Laplace 's equation, which can be written in terms of by superposition of solutions. Since Eq. 5 cannot be
the discharge potential, lI>, as inverted, points along a streamline are traced by
calculating successive points z j for which
(1)
(6)

The discharge potential , for confined flow , is defined using the Newton-Raphson iterative method.
as
lI> = kH~ + Cc ( 2)
ISLGC mass transport/oxidation
where k is the aquifer permeability, H is the width of rate model
the flow region normal to the x and y planes, and ~ is
the piezometric head relative to a normal datum plane.
An analytic complex function Q = Q(z ) is introduced Basic equations
as
A system of four one-dimensional convection-
Q(z ) = lI> (z ) + ilV (z ) , ( 3) dispersion equations with reaction terms is used to
describe change in uranium and oxygen concentra-
where z = x + iy . The real part of the complex poten- tions in solution during in situ leaching. The equations,
tial function, Re[Q(z)] = lI>(z ), is the discharge poten- along with appropriate boundary conditions, are pre-
tial as given by Eq. 2 and the imaginary part, Im[Q(z )] sented in the following . Since IV is constant along each
= lV(z), is termed the stream function . The stream streamline, the mass transport equations for each
function is constant along streamlines, and the total streamline are reduced to one dimension in the corn -
discharge between two streamlines is equal to the plex potential plane , with lI> as the variable represent-
difference in their stream function values. ing position along the streamline. In Eqs. 7 through 10,
each streamline is represented by n nodes. Porosity
P ermeability zon es is ~.
The concentr a ti on of uranium in solution (C u) along
Piezometric head is continuous at the boundary a streamline is given by
between two zones of differing permeability, denoted
k o and k l. It follows from Eq. 2, therefore, that lI>o and
lI>l will be discontinuous at the permeability zone a acu + (J a2c u + Ru = lI> ac u (7)
boundary. To model this discontinuity in potential, ISL all> all> 2 at
makes use of the complex potential expression for line with Cu = C u (lI>,t)
doublets as presented by Strack and Haitjema (1981) .
The real part of the doublet expression, Re[Qp (z )], Cu (O,t) = c,
is discontinuous across the line doublet. The magni- Cu (lI> ,O ) = °
=°
tude of the discontinuity is termed the doublet strength.
The imaginary part, Irn [Qp (z )] is continuous every- aCu (lI> n,t )
where, so discharge normal to the line doublet is all>
continuous, and continuity of flow across the zone Ru = Ru (Co'W u )
boundary is preserved.
Doublets with varying strength are distributed along where C u is the uranium concentration in the injected
the boundary of permeability zones to account for the lixiviant, and R u is the rate at which uranium enters
jump in permeability k l -k o' If z = 6, where 6 is a solution (due to oxidation).
point on the line doublet, the doublet strength, S(6), The concentration of dissolved oxygen (Co) along a
may be expressed in terms of lI>o(6) as streamline is given by

S(6) = (k l ~o k O) lI>o (6) (4 ) a aco + (J a2co - (6R o + fARu) = lI> aco (8)
all> all>2 at
where lI>o is the discharge potential in zone k o. with Co = Co (lI> ,t )
The doublet strengths, S(6 ), along permeability zone Co(O ,t) = Co
boundaries are not known in advance . Their values
depend on the potential, along the boundary. Imposing Co (lI>, O) =°
condition (4) at a number of control points along the
zone boundary results in a set of equations for which
aCo (lI>n,t) =
all>
°
the unknown strength parameters S(6 ) may be solved.
n, = R o(Co ,Wp )
Comprehensive potential and
streamline tracing where Co is the oxygen concentration in the injected
Iixiviant, R o is the rate at which oxygen is consumed
The potential functions of wells, Qw(z ), and uniform by oxidation of uranium, and 6 and fA are stoichiO-
flow , Qf(Z), are also introduced in ISL. In modeling metric constants.
in situ leaching hydrology , the strengths (r e cha r ge The uranium concentration in the deposit, Wu , along
and discharge rates) of injection and recovery wells a streamline is described by
are considered known.
Once the doublet strengths are determined, the dis- aw
__u = -Ru (9)
charge potential and stream function at an arbitrary at
point z in the flow domain are obtained from with Wu = Wu(lI> ,t)
Wu(lI> ,O) = Wu(lI»

90 MAY 1987 MINERAL S AND METALLURGICAL PROCESSING

where Wu(<l» is the initial concentration of uranium
along the streamline . Similarly, the concentration of
a second oxygen consuming mineral, Wp, in the
formation is described as
awp = a, (10)
at
with Wp = w, (<l>,t)
Wp(<l>,O) = Wp(<l»
where Wp (<l» is the initial concentration of the mineral
along the streamline .
The rates R u and Ro are half-order and first-order
functions of Co, respectively , and are derived from
laboratory oxidation rate experiments (Bommer,
(1979 ). The rate coefficients in the expressions for R u
and R o are site dependent. The convection/dispersion
coefficients Q' = a(<l> ,lJI) and {J = (J(<l>,lJI) are derived
from fluid flow parameters (Bommer, 1979). They are
calculated by the ISL model and passed to the ISLGC
model. Transverse dispersion is neglected.
ISLGC numerical methods
A second-order finite difference approximation is
Used to discretize the system of Eqs. 7 through 10. The
finite difference scheme transforms the system of four
coupled partial differential equations into a system of
nonlinear algebraic equations and an equal number of
Unknowns. The number of equations is four times the
number of nodes on a streamline. A Newton-Raphson
(N-R) iterative scheme is used to solve this nonlinear
system of algebraic equations. This scheme reduces
the computation to solving a sequence of linear
systems. Each linear system is then solved using
sUccessive over relaxation (SOR).
The SOR procedure is an iterative method for
Solving systems of linear equations. Thus it computes
a sequence of approximations that converge to the true
Solution. Experience with ISLGC indicates that SOR
gives satisfactory results, although convergence in
this case is not guaranteed by the standard theory.
Application of ISL and ISLGC models
Inhomogeneities in aquifer permeability are present
at many in situ leaching sites. They add complexity to
the leachant flow pattern and often have a significant
impact on mineral recovery.
Hobson site
Price et al. (1984) describe the inhomogeneities in
Permeability and mineralization that existed at the
Bobson leach site in Karnes County, Texas. Uranium
roll·front deposition in the Tordilla sandstone occurred
Primarily within low permeability silty sandstone
layers that are overlain and underlain by higher
Permeability sand deposits containing little or no
leachable uranium. The authors report that uranium
recovery from several five-spot patterns was much
lOwer than anticipated.
Geophysical logs indicate the mineralized zone is
approximately 1 m thick and less than 62 m from the
SUrface. The overlying and underlying sands range
from 2 to 4 m in thickness. Above and below the
1'ordilla sandstone are the Fashing Clay and Dubose
Confining beds (Price et aI. , 1984). A preleach core
analysis showed horizontal permeability contrasts
between the mineralized zone and adjacent sands
MINERALS AND METALLURGICAL PROCESSING
within the Tordilla sandstone ranging from 60 to 5862
millidarcys in one case , and between 692 and 2356
millidarcys in another (Stover, 1984).
A post-leach core revealed high grade mineraliza-
tion was present between 60.7 and 61.3 m subsurface ,
in an extremely low permeability ca lcite cemented
streak. Vertical spreading of leach solution within the
Tordilla sandstone had occurred ; however, the cement-
ed layer showed no signs of oxidation. Overlying and
underlying the calcite layer, between 57 and 64 m ,
were sandstone layers showing obvious signs of oxida-
tion and a relatively uniform ammonia concentration
(Stover, 1984) . Ammonia was introduced during
leaching.
Prior g eochemical mod eling
Gullinger (1983) conducted laboratory leaching and
geochemical modeling studies on ore samples from
the Hobson sit e , using half-order expressions to
describe the oxidation rate of two uranium species.
Guilinger's simulation results corresponded well to the
uranium recovery achieved in laboratory leaching
experiments with disaggregated samples of Hobson
ore material, but showed little correspondence with
the leaching results at the Hobson field site .
A uranium recovery curve based on Guilinger's
simulation of Hassler cell leaching experiments is
compared with actual composite recovery data from
the Hobson field site in Price et al. (1984). A significant
difference between field and simulated uranium
re covery is noted. While the model used by Guilinger
predicts 80% recovery after injection of 40 pore
volumes, well field recovery was approaching only
27% after 96 pore volumes. The difference was judged
to be mainly due to the lack of conta ct between
uranium ore and leach solution, as a result of permea-
bility differences in the ore formation .
ISL application
The effect of contrasting zones of permeability on
leachant flow at the Hobson site can be simulated in
two dimensions with the ISL hydrology model. The
cross-sectional streamline pattern between a single
pair of injection and recovery screens, shown in Fig. 1,
is generated using parameter values that closely
approximate field conditions at the Hobson leach site
(Schmidt and Follin, 1985). The permeability ratio
between barren and mineralized zones is kl /k o = 10.
In light of the post-leach core analysis (which indi-
cated that the m ineralized zone was highly cemented),
the 10 to 1 difference in permeability between layers
k l and k o is probably a conservative estimate of the
actual permeability difference that exists at the
Hobson site . Assuming that the low permeability zone
in Fig. 1 is also the zone of high grade mineralization,
then it is apparent that mlneral-leachant contact is
reduced to an area within a 1-m radius of the injection
and recovery screens. Clearly, permeability differ-
ences greater than 10 to 1 could do little more to inhibit
contact between ore material and leach solution. In
this regard, whether the mineralized zone is an
extremely low permeability calcite cemented material
or a very fine grained silty sand, as presumed in this
simulation, makes little difference in the streamline
pattern or in the performance of the leachant injection
and recovery scheme simulated here.
It is possible to induce uniform one-dimensional flow
through the low permeability zone shown in Fig. 1 by
artificially creating hydraulic barriers to leachant
MAY 1987 91
 leachant leac han t
re c overy 1nj e c t ion
screen s cr e en

Fig. 1 - Streamline pattern in a heterogeneous cross section

flow outside the low permeability zone. The streamline
pattern in Fig. 2 is obtained with input parameters that
are the same as those used to obtain Fig. 1. In Fig. 2,
however, injection and recovery of ground water above
and below the mineralized zone is used to confine the
leach solution to the mineralized zone . The injection
and recovery rates of ground water and leachant are
proportional to the transmissivities of the two zones.
ISLGC application
The condition in Fig. 2, of induced one-dimensional
flow, closely approximates the flow conditions simu-
lated by Guilinger in laboratory leaching experiments
using samples of the Hobson ore material. Using the
streamline pattern of Fig. 2 as input to ISLGC, it is
possible to closely approximate the theoretical uranium
recovery curve prepared by Guilinger and presented
by Price et al. for the Hobson ore . During the first 15 or
20 pore volumes injected, the ISLGC recovery curve in
Fig. 3 (represented by a solid line) is only a fair match
with the Guilinger laboratory results (reprinted here
and represented by a dashed line). The difference is
the result of assuming, in ISLGC, a single intermediate
reaction rate for the Hobson ores, whereas two uranium
species, fast and slow reacting, were identified by
Guilinger. The difference between laboratory and
simulated recovery diminishes rapidly, however, after
about 40 pore volumes, and the model is a very good
match thereafter. With this single exception, the
reaction parameter values input to ISLGC are exactly
those obtained by Guilinger (Schmidt and Follin, 1985).

r-+
k
----
2

---- --
--
k,
gro undwater groundwater
re c overy injection
s creen s creen

lIB III[
leachant ieachant
re covery injection
screen screen

..-- ~

------
-
- -
groundwa t e r k gro undwater
1
re co very in j e ction

----
ec r een s cre en

k l f kO • 10 k l fk 2 • 1000

Fig. 2 - Streamline pattern in a heterogeneous cross section with artificial confinement

92 MAY 1987 MINERALS AND METALLURGICAL PROCESSING

 The contributions of individual streamlines to th e
total uranium re covery are shown in Fig. 5. Inj ected
leach solution is equally divided into seven sy m me tr ic
Cl streamline pairs (see Fig. 1). Figure 5 indicates that
W
""
,., N
r-
- - - - Pr i c e . Bobe ck e illlulat e d r ecov e r y
- I SL/ I SLGC simu lated r ec c ve ry
streamlines originating in the middle of the injection
>
o
sc reen are the most productive . The leach solution
w
w 0
represented by these interior streamlines remains
"" '" inside the low permeability zone , in contact with high
grade mineralization, for a longer time . In Fig. 1, the
strea m lin e pair tha t is numbered 1 a ccounts for about
50% of total simulated recovery.

o
o

ca
w
"" r-"'
w
10 zo 3D 40 49 59 59 79 69 99 >
a
PORE VOLU ME '-'
w ~

'" .o I
Fig. 3 - Fract ional uranium recovery with homogeneous ore ~ ~j
a
and one-dimen sional f low
""
:0 co
e,

If hydrology data for the streamline pattern of Fig. 1

is input to ISLGC, instead of that for Fig. 2 (reaction
rate parameters remain the same, however ), a simu-
lation of the Hobson site is obtained that closely
resembles the low uranium recovery rate observed in o
zo
the field . The simulated uranium recovery curve in " 10 30 4 0
f' :J f«
~O 5!
VOL UI1E
i J

Fig. 4 takes into account the layered permeability and

Fig. 5 - Fractional contribution to uranium recovery of
mineralized zone . It is superimposed on actual recov- indi vidual streamlines
ery data from the Hobson site , reprinted from Price
et al , (1984) . In Fig. 4, simulated uranium recovery,
after injecting 100 pore volumes of leach solution, is Conclusions
approximately 21% , compared to an average of 28%
recovery at the Hobson field site. The correspondence shown in Fig. 4 between
observed and simulated uranium recovery quantita-
tively confirms the conclusions of earlier investigators
regarding the role of the low permeability mineralized
zone in determining uranium recovery at the Hobson
0
~
site . It is often possible to learn much about the
'" leaching beha vior of a large and complex field site by
'" modeling a small portion of it, provided that what is
Cl
UJ
Q:: modeled inc ludes representative hydrologi c and
UJ r- '"
:>-
0
mineralogic variability. •
w
UJ
Q:: "'
'" References
>::
::> • Hob.on re cove r y wel h
0
Bomm er, P.M., 1979. " A Streamli ne Co ncen t ration Balance Model for to-s uo
'"
'"
Cl:
Q::
Uranium Leaching and Site Rest ora t ion ." PhD Dissertat ion, Univers ity of Texas at
Aust in, Aust in, TX.
::> co

" "' Guil inger, T.R., 1983, " An Experim ent al Theoret ical St ud y of Uranium and Pyri te

'"
'" IS L!lSLGC . 1l11ulated re c overy
-. .-". Dissol ut ion Ki netics, " PhD Dissertat ion, University 0 1 Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.
Price, J.G., Bobe ck, P., Guilinger, T.R., Lake , L.W., Schechter, R.S., Stover, R.S..
and Mays , W., 1984, " Case Hist ory of an In Situ Uranium Leaching Pro jec t,"
Uranium , Vol. 1, January, pp. 335 ·36 1.
~ Schmidt, R.D., and Fo ll in, S.E., 1985, " Geoc hemical Modeling of In Situ Leach ing
in a Heterogeneous Porous Medium," SM E preprint 85·348, SME Fall Meeting,
Albu querque , NM , Oc t. 16·18, 9 pp .
0
Stover, D.E., 1984, " Post Leach Core from Hobson - Memorandum and Rep ort ,"
0 10 zo 3D 40 50 51 71 61 91 10 1
Fisher, Harden and Fisher Enviro nmental Consu ltants, Co rpus Chr ist i, TX.
PORE VOLUM E
St rack, O.D.L., and Hait jema, H.M., 1981. " Modeling Double Aquil er Flow us ing a
Co mp rehe ns ive Potent ial and Dis tributed Singu laritie s 2. So lut ion l or lnhomo -
geneo us Perm eabil it ies," Water Reso urc es Research , Vo l. 17, Oct ober , pp . 1551·
Fig. 4 - Fractional uranium recovery from the Hobs on site 1560.

MINERALS AND METALLURGICAL PROCESSING MAY 1987 93