NEW TECHNOLOGY
HGI's Dr. Dale Rucker Monitoring Enhanced Recovery Injections
Enhanced Recovery Techniques For
Heap Leach Mining
Are you leaving precious resources behind?

 As much as 30% of metallic resources, be it gold, copper, uranium, nickel, or silver, can remain in the inventory of a heap leach pad due to under or unleached ore. Stacking methods, ore compaction, drainage and infiltration issues, and material properties create these areas by constraining flow and keeping it away from the resource. The additional inventory in the pad is lost revenue waiting to be unlocked with the right leaching strategy.  

All is not lost!

HGI has the background, knowledge, and experience to apply the right leaching strategy to recover that metal. Through enhanced recovery techniques, we can bring the resource forward, extend a heap leach pad's productive life, and move to clean up sooner.

As a first step, we apply subsurface geophysical characterization methods to map regions in the pad where the metals may still exist. Then, we use geophysically- and metallurgically-based enhanced recovery techniques to surgically target the remaining ore to liberate the metals through optimized well field design and operation. Each well can target leaching at multiple depths, with multiple wells deployed in wellfields, coupled with monitoring to ensure optimum lateral spread covering the desired volume of the leach pad. Enhanced recovery offers the best prospects for recovering the most from your heap and extending the life of your mine. 
In the examples below, we show the effectiveness of the enhanced recovery process.  

The graphic above shows data of a resistivity characterization survey on a gold heap leach system. Blue colors represent saturated areas of the heap subsurface, and the red zone in the middle is an unsaturated area containing possible gold reserves.  
We installed injection wells (gray) and monitoring wells (green) in the second graphic. The 3-well injection array provided focused leachate distribution at depth throughout the zone of interest. Monitoring wells within the area of influence help optimize the secondary mineral recovery process using piezometers and sampling programs to understand heap chemistry during the entire recovery process.  

Value Driven Technology
Actionable Data
Enhanced recovery uses geophysical, hydrological, and metallurgical monitoring. We track the injected reagent as it propagates through the ore.
Efficient & Fast
Data acquisition is conducted from the surface with a minimal footprint using a small field crew. Wellfield design is conducted in-house by engineers familiar with injection in a variety of settings.
Proven
HGI's original test case is very successful and ongoing, with over 250 injection wells and nearly 8 million lbs of copper removed from a leach pad.
Cost Competitive
HGI's enhanced recovery projects have shown at least a five-fold return on investment for cost versus traditionally recovered precious metals.
Our Focus
Our team is here to provide value-focused geophysical services by delivering enhanced subsurface understanding and meaningful cost savings. We employ the most advanced industry equipment and custom-tailored geophysical solutions while concentrating on safe operations to reduce project risks that is unparalleled in the geophysical service industry.
Lunch & Learn Webinars
LEARN ABOUT GEOPHYSICS
About HGI Webinars

During the COVID-19 crisis, HGI continues its efforts to provide a suite of geophysical resources and services. We have developed Virtual Lunch & Learn webinars to offer participants an opportunity to learn about fundamental geophysical methodologies during social distancing and teleworking. When you participate in our webinars, you will learn how geophysics can improve project outcomes by visualizing the dynamic subsurface of your site. Get to know the basics of geophysics by scheduling a webinar, Lunch & Learn today.


LEARN ABOUT GEOPHYSICS METHODS

Gain insight into a range of geophysical methods and typical data collection approaches, characterization technologies, and monitoring capabilities.

DISCOVER WHICH GEOPHYSICAL TECHNIQUES ARE RIGHT FOR YOUR PROJECT

Determine which geophysical methods are right for your projects based on properties of subsurface materials, a variety of field conditions, and target depths.

DEVELOP A SURVEY STRATEGY

Knowing what does and doesn’t work for your project will help you forecast future geophysical site needs.

ATTEND FROM ANYWHERE & LEARN FROM HGI EXPERTS

This style of Lunch & Learn diverges a bit from our usual events because it’s through a webinar. Since we can’t virtually send you a good meal, we’re making up for the lack of lunch by providing a convenient webinar that will allow you to log in and interact from anywhere.

Stop the guesswork and start putting HGI to work for you!
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