ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Flow of lixiviant through heap leach materials should occur as unsaturated flow under the rate of lixiviant application chosen by the operator. Often, the unsaturated hydraulic characteristics of the ore being leached are not well known or understood. Recovery of the metal resource from the ore is more about the solution flow characteristics than the material itself; whereas, unsaturated flow characteristics in heaps are more about the material than the fluids (air and lixiviant). Opposing driving forces and non-linear flow mechanisms result in consequences which may be non-intuitive to the operator.
