Metal Recovery
Geo-Logic Associates' heap leach injection services helps our mining clients access previously unrecoverable gold, silver, and copper.
Heap Leach Injection Services
Also known as Enhanced Metal Recovery (EMR), GLA’s heap leach injection process allows our mining clients to access previously unrecoverable gold, silver, and copper, resulting in recovery of hundreds of thousands of additional ounces of metal, adding tens of millions of dollars right to their bottom lines.
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Heap Leach Injection
Also known as Enhanced Metal Recovery (EMR), GLA’s heap leach injection process involves installation of steel-cased wells in heap leach pads with multiple perforated zones throughout the well profile. GLA uses proprietary tooling to isolate the respective zones and inject leach solution. The solution injection flushes out previously dissolved metals and creates new pathways to ore that had not been previously exposed to solution. Injection leaching thereby accelerates the recovery of target metals and recovers metals that were unrecoverable utilizing traditional surface application leaching. Project revenue, as additional ounces recovered, is generated within days of the first injection of solution. Key benefits are:
- Low cost to perform a pilot program
- Connects to existing heap leach solution piping
- Generates revenue within days of start of injections
- Recovers previously unrecoverable metals
- Accelerates metal production
- Customized plan to meet unique project needs
- Financing assistance available
- Enhances the bottom line
Drilling oversight
Proper well installation in accordance with the project specifications is critical to project success. GLA provides a complete range of project-specific, on-site construction observation and testing services to ensure that each injection leaching project is built to design specifications. We assist our mining clients during bidding and construction and ensure that projects are adequately staffed and supported throughout their design, bidding and contracting, construction, and regulatory approval phases.
Heap leach injection characterization, wells, recovery
GLA designs injection plans and solution management tailored to meet the client- and site-specific needs. Wells can be reinjected to further enhance recovery. With EMR, GLA installs casing, then lowers injection tooling into position and injects solution into targeted zones of ore to recover additional recoverable materials. To enhance a mine’s bottom line with Enhanced Metal Recovery, GLA can assist with:
- Heap leach injection
- Heap leach wells
- Heap leach recovery
- Injection leaching
- Enhanced metal recovery
- Heap leach gravity wells
- Heap leach geophysics
- Heap characterization
- Alternative leaching technologies
Offset costs with accelerated cash flow
Injection leaching results in a short-term return on investment, providing accelerated cash flow for costly operating expenses, mine reclamation, closure costs, and mine expansion projects that may be delayed due to high startup costs.
Geotechnical evaluations
Working to ensure geotechnical safe injections, GLA performs geotechnical evaluations prior to and during heap leach injections to manage the potential effects of injections on pore water pressures and on the stability of the heap leach pad. Testing and analysis may include:
- Seepage and pore pressure analyses
- Limit equilibrium and FLAC analyses
- Unsaturated and saturated soils testing and evaluation
- Soils strength testing
- Monitoring of active injections with instrumentation
Geophysics
GLA professionals monitor injection leaching projects utilizing geophysics including surface and subsurface electrical resistivity and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) testing.
