Process Innovation

LEACHING

By carefully considering the factors that affect the rate of metal recovery, our metallurgists are capable of developing a process to incorporate the effect of particle size and refractory ores, by using ultra fine grinding and oxidative leaching at standard operating conditions. Sulphides which are normally difficult to leach using direct leaching have successfully obtained high recoveries. The test-works are carried out at our Nesch Mintech Laboratory in Tanzania under accreditation by SADCAS on ISO 17025:2017.

Ultrafine grinding increased the surface area of the particles and hence increased the recovery of the metals. Since using autoclaves increases the operational expenses of the process, Nesch Mintech Metallurgists opted for oxidative leaching in an effort to alter the oxidation composition of the ore. The process has successfully converted the troublesome sulphide and double sulphides into oxides. This increased the recovery of the valuable metals. A combination of both processes gave almost 100% recovery of the valuable metal.