| Abstract: | Heap leaching low-grade ores has become a major contributor to the extraction of economically important metals, notably copper
and gold. The state-of-the-art in heap leaching is reviewed with emphasis on process engineering. Rock leaching, including
rock pore diffusion and mineral kinetics, solution flow, and retention in ore heaps during percolation leaching, and bio-oxidation
of sulfidic ores are covered. Oxygen transport into heaps by gaseous diffusion, natural convection, and forced air ventilation
is discussed. Strategies for optimizing heap leaching include ore crushing, ore agglomeration, low-cost air ventilation of
sulfide ore heaps undergoing bio-oxidation using fans, and the use of aggregate metal extraction rate constants in making
metallurgical business decisions about heap leaching.
The Extraction and Processing Lecturer Award honors an outstanding scientific leader in the field of nonferrous extractive
metallurgy with an invitation to present a comprehensive lecture at the TMS Annual Meeting.
Robert W. Bartlett, presently dean of the College of Mines and Earth Resources and professor of metallurgical engineering
at the University of Idaho, has spent half of his career in industry, Anaconda, ARCO, and Kennecott, and half in academia,
Stanford and Idaho. He earned his degrees at the University of Utah. His lecture is based on research in industry and at the
University of Idaho.
Dr. Bartlett has been a member of TMS for over 40 years and was president in 1989. Earlier, he was a member of the TMS Board
of Directors representing, for 3 years, what is now the Extraction and Processing Division. Dr. Bartlett consults primarily
on processing in the mining and metals industries. He is a recipient of the TMS Extraction and Processing Technology Award,
the Turner Award of the Electrochemical Society, the Wadsworth Award of the Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration,
and the McConnell Award of AIME. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. |
