SHORT COURSE: RECENT ADVANCES IN LEACH STACK DESIGN.
Mining operations use heap leach pads to process low-grade ore and obtain precious and base metals economically. The use of the most recent techniques for geotechnical and hydrodynamic analysis that supports the design and for the quality control of geosynthetics, is of vital importance to ensure optimal performance of this type of facilities, especially when working with complex terrain. The short one-day course will present and discuss the following topics:
– Review of geomembrane types. Exposed and unexposed applications, installation procedures and QA, slope stability, and design and testing for protection against punching shear. Explanation of electrical resistivity testing technology for leak detection, test methods, exposed and unexposed leak detection test procedures, leak rates and statistics, impact of leak detection tests and contribution to QA.
– Behavior of heap leaching related to: characterization of the soil-geomembrane interface, non-linear shear resistance, behavior of interfaces with large loads, as well as aspects related to stability analysis, permanent earthquake-induced displacements, case study and state of the art in 3D stability analysis.
– Hydrodynamic aspects: saturated versus unsaturated flow, effects of mineral permeability on metal recovery, laboratory methods to determine mineral permeability, field methods to evaluate mineral permeability and metal recovery, and hydrodynamic modeling.
– Risk assessment in heap leaching. The course has been developed for technical participants involved in the analysis, design, construction and operation of heap leach, taking advantage of the great experience of the instructors in the specific topics to be taught, which have been successfully applied in many heap leaching projects. all over the world.
To learn more about the course: http://www.mining.solutions/heapleach-es/programa/#curso-corto