The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 23, 1977
Filed:
Oct. 17, 1975
Peter James Lingane, Concord, MA (US);
Lawrence MacLagan Cathles, III, Cambridge, MA (US);
Limin Hsueh, Bedford, MA (US);
Kennecott Copper Corporation, New York, NY (US);
Abstract
This invention pertains to a method for in-situ mining of copper values from ore formations and, more particularly, this invention pertains to oxidative in-situ mining of copper wherein, for example, an oxygen-acid, a ferric iron-acid or a nitrate-acid lixiviant is being employed for recovering copper values. Further, this invention pertains to the recovery of copper from a deposit in which the ratio of pyrite to chalcopyrite is low. Still further, this invention pertains to a combination of acid-preinjection, monitoring, acid adjustment and additional monitoring or tell-tale ion monitoring for acid supply increase or decrease in the ore formation as steps in a combination for rendering highly controllable the acid preinjection process, thus providing further improvements to in-situ mining processes. Additionally, this invention pertains to a broad range of in-situ leaching processes including, for example, oxidative leaching of nickel sulfides, molybdenum sulfides or rhenium sulfides, or an oxidative leaching of pitch blende.