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Oil, Gas & Mining vocabulary · Ore Processing

Leaching

Meaning in oil, gas & mining, with examples

/ˈliːtʃɪŋ/nounCommon term

In oil, gas & mining, leaching means: Dissolving a metal out of ore with a chemical solution, for example cyanide for gold or sulphuric acid for copper, and then recovering the metal from the solution.

In Turkish: liç, liç işlemi, çözündürme

How it is used

In heap leaching, crushed ore is piled on lined pads and sprayed with solution; in tank leaching it is mixed in tanks. Staff talk about leach pads, pregnant solution (rich in metal), leach recovery and cyanide management.

Example sentences

  1. Heap leaching is used for low-grade gold ore that would cost too much to mill.

  2. Leaching tests showed 85 percent copper recovery after 90 days.

Common collocations

  • heap leaching
  • leach pad
  • cyanide leaching
  • acid leaching
  • leach recovery
  • recoveryThe percentage of the valuable metal in the ore that a processing plant actually manages to capture in its final product.
  • gradeThe amount of valuable metal or mineral in a rock, usually given as a percentage (for copper) or in grams per tonne (for gold and silver).
  • smeltingHeating ore or concentrate to a very high temperature in a furnace to separate the metal from other elements, leaving a waste called slag.
  • acid mine drainage (AMD)Acidic, metal-rich water that forms when sulphide minerals such as pyrite in mine waste or workings meet air and water. It can pollute rivers for decades.

More terms: Ore Processing

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