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Short-term mine planning
Published in Xavier Emery, Serge Antoine Séguret, Geostatistics for the Mining Industry, 2020
Xavier Emery, Serge Antoine Séguret
Three stationary Gaussian random fields are considered, and for each of them, a set of truncation thresholds is defined in such a way that the truncated random fields present the distributions of Figure 5.8. Their direct and cross-variograms are then fitted with a linear model of coregionalization that includes a nugget effect and spherical structures with geometric or zonal anisotropy, so as to reproduce the direct and cross-variograms of the truncated variables (Figure 5.9). Note that the model reproduces the positive correlation between the abundances of atacamite and copper wad and the negative correlation between the abundances of atacamite and copper clay; the correlation between the abundances of copper clay and copper wad is low.
Accelerating copper leaching from a complex ore containing atacamite: optimisation and kinetic studies
Published in Canadian Metallurgical Quarterly, 2023
Sepideh Javanshir, Hojat Imantalab, MohammadBagher Fathi
Copper is the third most consumed metal in the industry. Owing to the increasing demand and depletion of high-grade copper resources, copper extraction from different resources has attracted the attention of many producers and researchers [1]. Atacamite or copper(II) chloride hydroxide with the formula Cu2Cl(OH)3 is a comparatively rare mineral found in arid climates, in the oxidation zone of copper-rich deposits, deep seafloor vents, or as a product of copper-rich alloys’ corrosion. It also can form in saline soils contaminated with copper-containing mining effluents. So, this mineral is generally a copper hydroxide which is altered in a neutral to chlorine-rich environment [2,3]. This mineral is naturally found in several main porphyry deposits, including Cerro Colorado, Chuquicamata, El Abra, Escondida, Gaby Sur, Lomas Bayas, Radomiro Tomic, Spence, and also in other types of copper deposits, e.g. Michilla, Mantos Blancos, and Sierra Miranda atacamite [4]. Note that not only the copper content in atacamite (30%) is higher than that of malachite and azurite, but also it is rapidly dissolved in acid compared to other copper oxide minerals. Therefore, the leaching of atacamite can be interesting for both researchers and the industry.