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Use of a Chemical Transport Code for the Prediction of Gold Heap Leach Production

Abstract:

Itasca Denver, Inc., (Itasca) in conjunction with Newmont Mining Corporation (NMC) developed a numerical model to estimate gold (Au) production from NMC’s heap-leach operations. A current practice of prediction of cyanide gold (AuCN) recovery at NMC is based on spreadsheet models (Excel®) that are unique for each operation. NMC has found that the tool is very useful for short- and long-term predictions of Au production; however, the methodology is limited for quantitatively assessing mechanisms for improvement and optimization of Au recovery. Hydrodynamic modeling is an alternative to the existing practice of prediction, and it is a complimentary addition to the existing predictive techniques

Citation:

Shchipansky, A., R. Sterrett, J. Xiang, and A. Schindler. 2011. “Use of a Chemical Transport Code for the Prediction of Gold Heap Leach Production.” Presented at the 2011 Society for Mining and Metallurgy and Exploration, Inc., Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado, February-March.

Authors:

Jianwei Xiang

Robert Sterrett

Link to Full Text:

Heap-Leach Production Modeling.pdf