Reverse engineering nature: metal extraction through mineral replacement. This project aims to find new methods of copper recovery from low grade copper ores, which are currently uneconomic to mine. In nature, at the top of ore deposits and just below the water-table, is a region known as the supergene zone. Here mild oxidizing reactions take place causing primary ore minerals such as chalcopyrite to be replaced by more copper-rich, less refractory minerals. These processes are driven by disso ....Reverse engineering nature: metal extraction through mineral replacement. This project aims to find new methods of copper recovery from low grade copper ores, which are currently uneconomic to mine. In nature, at the top of ore deposits and just below the water-table, is a region known as the supergene zone. Here mild oxidizing reactions take place causing primary ore minerals such as chalcopyrite to be replaced by more copper-rich, less refractory minerals. These processes are driven by dissolution re-precipitation reactions (CDR reactions) and in many CDR reactions, the reaction mechanism, rather than intensive properties such as pressure and temperature, control the nature of the products and the overall reaction process. This project will explore the mechanism and controls on these reactions to see if they can be utilized in the mining industry to economically extract copper from low grade ores.
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Geochemistry of ore metals at very high temperatures. The world’s largest copper and gold mines occur in extinct volcanoes around the Pacific Rim. Understanding how these essential metals are mobilised from magmas in the roots of volcanoes to become ore deposits and how to recognize where this has occurred is crucial in exploration for new deposits.
Bioleaching of copper in tropical systems. This project is focussed on bioleaching of chalcopyrite, to recover copper from currently sub-economic low-grade ore. Conventional mining processes are too energy intensive to economically extract copper from low-grade ores. However, these waste ores are still subject to natural, bacterial leaching causing environmental harm. Enhancing this natural process by removing key limitations in bacterial colonisation of metal sulfides aims to enhance bioleachin ....Bioleaching of copper in tropical systems. This project is focussed on bioleaching of chalcopyrite, to recover copper from currently sub-economic low-grade ore. Conventional mining processes are too energy intensive to economically extract copper from low-grade ores. However, these waste ores are still subject to natural, bacterial leaching causing environmental harm. Enhancing this natural process by removing key limitations in bacterial colonisation of metal sulfides aims to enhance bioleaching of low-grade ores creating a win-win scenario, reducing environmental harm while extracting value from these currently uneconomic materials.Read moreRead less
Carbon-neutral copper: unlocking metal value through carbon sequestration. This project aims to explore how the concepts of reaction-induced porosity and coupled dissolution-reprecipitation reactions, which have had a profound impact in geosciences, can be exploited in the context of ore processing through carbon sequestration. The project's main outcomes are to generate a new process that maintains porosity in ore, and a combination of lixiviants, for effective Cu metal recovery and Fe capture. ....Carbon-neutral copper: unlocking metal value through carbon sequestration. This project aims to explore how the concepts of reaction-induced porosity and coupled dissolution-reprecipitation reactions, which have had a profound impact in geosciences, can be exploited in the context of ore processing through carbon sequestration. The project's main outcomes are to generate a new process that maintains porosity in ore, and a combination of lixiviants, for effective Cu metal recovery and Fe capture. This project will benefit the mineral industry by providing an alternative to the current paradigm in Copper mineral processing that requires the destruction of the mineral hosting economic value, thereby developing sustainable mining technologies well suited for the increasingly complex ores being extracted in Australia. Read moreRead less