FREEPORT MINERALS CORPORATION

The system may include a secondary irrigation feature that determines a percent of overlap of each of a plurality of submodules in a second lift over each of a plurality of submodules in a first lift and adjusts at least one of leaching operations or a leaching model based on the total tonnage weighted average of metal in the second lift. The method may further comprise determining an acid gap based on a difference between total acid given and total acid consumption; and further adjusting at least one of the leaching operations or the leaching model based on the acid gap. The method may further comprise determining a percentage of compacted material based on the material that is compacted and irrigated divided by the material that is irrigated; and further adjusting at least one of the leaching operations or the leaching model based on the percentage of compacted material.

A device and method for recovering a metal-bearing solution from a leaching system is provided. The method includes collecting, using the collector of a solution sampling device, a metal-bearing solution from a leaching system, storing, using the storage reservoir of the solution sampling device, the metal-bearing solution, pressurizing, using an air pressure line of the solution sampling device, the storage reservoir, and discharging, using a solution sampling line of the solution sampling device, the metal-bearing solution from the storage reservoir.

A device and method for recovering a metal-bearing solution from a leaching system is provided. The method includes collecting, using the collector of a solution sampling device, a metal-bearing solution from a leaching system, storing, using the storage reservoir of the solution sampling device, the metal-bearing solution, pressurizing, using an air pressure line of the solution sampling device, the storage reservoir, and discharging, using a solution sampling line of the solution sampling device, the metal-bearing solution from the storage reservoir.

Methods for recovering a metal value from a metal-bearing material are provided. The method comprises agglomerating the metal-bearing material with an agglomeration solution comprising a raffinate, an oxidant, and citric acid or salts thereof to form an agglomerated metal-bearing material; leaching the agglomerated metal-bearing material with a leaching solution comprising the raffinate and the citric acid or salts thereof to produce a pregnant leaching solution and a leached material; re-oxidizing the leached material with a curing solution comprising the raffinate and the oxidant; and recovering the metal value from the pregnant leach solution to produce the raffinate.

Various embodiments provide a leaching solution monitoring module comprising a first leaching solution distribution system interface, a flow meter in fluid communication with the first leaching solution distribution system interface, the flow meter in fluid communication a 3-way pressure regulator, and a second leaching solution distribution system interface in fluid communication with the 3-way pressure regulator.

The system may include a secondary irrigation feature that determines a percent of overlap of each of a plurality of submodules in a second lift over each of a plurality of submodules in a first lift and adjusts at least one of leaching operations or a leaching model based on the total tonnage weighted average of metal in the second lift. The method may further comprise determining an acid gap based on a difference between total acid given and total acid consumption; and further adjusting at least one of the leaching operations or the leaching model based on the acid gap. The method may further comprise determining a percentage of compacted material based on the material that is compacted and irrigated divided by the material that is irrigated; and further adjusting at least one of the leaching operations or the leaching model based on the percentage of compacted material.

The method may comprise determining a geometry of a stockpile based on the haulage data, engineering drawings and material characteristics; predicting, by the one or more processors using an algorithm implementing a cellular automaton, material movements within the stockpile, based on the geometry of the stockpile, physical parameters of the material movements and emergent rules for the material movements; predicting material movements exiting the stockpile, based on the material movements within the stockpile; predicting, using a concentrator transit model, the material movements across a comminution process in a concentrator, based on material movements exiting the stockpile; and optimizing mining operations based on the knowledge of the material movements through the comminution process. A determination of the material movements may include a determination of the material characteristics of the material.

The method may comprise receiving historical data (e.g., mineralogy data, irrigation data, raffinate data, heat data, lift height data, geographic data on ore placement and/or blower data); training a predictive model using the historical data to create a trained predictive model; adding future assumption data to the trained predictive model; running the forecast engine for a plurality of parameters to obtain forecast data for a mining production target; comparing the forecast data for the mining production target to the actual data for the mining production target; determining deviations between the forecast data and the actual data, based on the comparing; and changing each of the plurality of parameters from the forecast data to the actual data to determine a contribution to the deviations for each of the plurality of parameters.

Various embodiments provide a leaching solution monitoring module comprising a first leaching solution distribution system interface, a flow meter in fluid communication with the first leaching solution distribution system interface, the flow meter in fluid communication a 3-way pressure regulator, and a second leaching solution distribution system interface in fluid communication with the 3-way pressure regulator.

The system may include a secondary irrigation feature that determines a percent of overlap of each of a plurality of submodules in a second lift over each of a plurality of submodules in a first lift and adjusts at least one of leaching operations or a leaching model based on the total tonnage weighted average of metal in the second lift. The method may further comprise determining an acid gap based on a difference between total acid given and total acid consumption; and further adjusting at least one of the leaching operations or the leaching model based on the acid gap. The method may further comprise determining a percentage of compacted material based on the material that is compacted and irrigated divided by the material that is irrigated; and further adjusting at least one of the leaching operations or the leaching model based on the percentage of compacted material.