Ore Permeability Assessment and Heap Leach Characterization

Location

Elko, Nevada

Client

Bald Mountain Mine

Project Description

GSA performed an integrated field and laboratory characterization program to determine the hydraulic properties of current and future heap leach ores and potential constraints on gold recovery.

An active heap leach facility was sonic drilled, logged and tested to determine leach ore physical and hydraulic properties, and to correlate hydraulic properties to residual gold values in the leach ore.

Data revealed a fine-textured interval of ore that was limiting solution movement into the underlying ore and controlling further gold recovery within the leach pad. A relationship between saturated hydraulic conductivity and ore physical properties was developed and applied to the leach pad to create a distribution of hydrologic ore types. The hydrologic classification provided a large-scale relative assessment of heap permeability to be used to develop a hydrology-based model to evaluate alternative ore handling and leaching strategies.

Project Highlights