7
copper prices, gold prices, freight costs, concentrate
treatment charges, and copper refining costs.
• The process removes acid-producing pyrite from the
tailings impoundment facility and redirects it to a
lined heap leach facility, reducing mine acid drainage
potential.
Column leach tests were conducted at Aminpro in
Santiago, Chile, scaling up the simple bottle roll testwork
to columns. The initial test matrix was designed to deter-
mine the impact of several key parameters on the extraction
of cobalt from pyrite. These parameters include:
• Bio-oxidation
• Aeration
• Temperature
• Pyrite concentrate loading
• Pyrite concentrate source (Mantoverde vs Santo
Domingo)
• Pyrite concentrate particle size distribution
• Raffinate type, synthetic vs actual raffinate (from the
Mantoverde commercial leach circuit)
Although the test program is not complete at the time
of writing, initial unreconciled results from the columns
show that over 90% of the cobalt can be extracted from
the pyrite within the typical dynamic leach cycle that is
employed by Mantoverde.
Cobalt Recovery
Upon pyrite dissolution in the heaps, cobalt will begin to
concentrate in the closed-circuit leach system. The cobalt is
then recovered using ion exchange technology that employs
a bis-picolylamine chelating chemistry. Figure 6 shows the
Figure 5. Pyrite scavenging flotation circuit and dewatering thickener
copper prices, gold prices, freight costs, concentrate
treatment charges, and copper refining costs.
• The process removes acid-producing pyrite from the
tailings impoundment facility and redirects it to a
lined heap leach facility, reducing mine acid drainage
potential.
Column leach tests were conducted at Aminpro in
Santiago, Chile, scaling up the simple bottle roll testwork
to columns. The initial test matrix was designed to deter-
mine the impact of several key parameters on the extraction
of cobalt from pyrite. These parameters include:
• Bio-oxidation
• Aeration
• Temperature
• Pyrite concentrate loading
• Pyrite concentrate source (Mantoverde vs Santo
Domingo)
• Pyrite concentrate particle size distribution
• Raffinate type, synthetic vs actual raffinate (from the
Mantoverde commercial leach circuit)
Although the test program is not complete at the time
of writing, initial unreconciled results from the columns
show that over 90% of the cobalt can be extracted from
the pyrite within the typical dynamic leach cycle that is
employed by Mantoverde.
Cobalt Recovery
Upon pyrite dissolution in the heaps, cobalt will begin to
concentrate in the closed-circuit leach system. The cobalt is
then recovered using ion exchange technology that employs
a bis-picolylamine chelating chemistry. Figure 6 shows the
Figure 5. Pyrite scavenging flotation circuit and dewatering thickener