Granted Patent B2

US 12,619,924 · App. 18/804,474 · Granted May 5, 2026

Inventors: Dana Geislinger (Chandler, AZ); Travis Gaddie (Phoenix, AZ); Margaret Alden Tinsley (Titusville, FL); Steven Chad Richardson (Thatcher, AZ); Raquel Crossman (Mesa, AZ); Cristian Caro (Tucson, AZ); Kevin Cheng (Phoenix, AZ); Rosemary D Blosser (Tucson, AZ); Amelia Briggs (Mesa, AZ)

Assignee: FREEPORT MINERALS CORPORATION

G06Q10/04C22B3/06C22B15/0067C22B15/0095G06Q10/0631G06Q50/02

Abstract

Claims (40)

1 . A method comprising:

determining an acid gap based on a difference between total acid given and total acid consumption;

determining an acid gap percentage based on the acid gap divided by the total acid consumption;

determining remaining soluble metal based on: (a percentage of leachable minerals) * (1-the acid gap percentage);

further adjusting at least one of leaching operations or a leaching model based on the remaining soluble metal; and

transmitting an activation signal to activate a leaching device, wherein the leaching device performs the percolating of the total acid given from the second lift to the first lift, in response to the activation signal activating the leaching device that distributes the total acid given.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining an impact on metal production in at least one of a first lift or a second lift, based on the acid gap.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining an impact on metal production, based on the total acid given in at least one of a first lift or a second lift.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining an impact on metal production based on under-dosing of the total acid given in at least one of a first lift or a second lift.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the acid gap is used to determine an acid dosage for leaching the material.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining an amount of the total acid given based on the least impact to metal production.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the percentage of leachable minerals in at least one of a first lift or a second lift is determined from a quick leach test.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the total acid given includes at least one of cure acid, cumulative raffinate acid or cumulative ILS (Intermediate Leach Solution) acid.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising incorporating the acid gap into the leaching model to reduce errors.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

creating a tonnage weighted average of metal for a second lift based on a percent of overlap with a first lift, a percent of a metal in the second lift and a tonnage of material in the second lift,

wherein the percent of overlap is based on at least a portion of the second lift that is over the first lift; and

transmitting an instruction signal to a leaching device for adjusting leaching operations to optimize metal production, based on the tonnage weighted average of the metal in the second lift.

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a percent of metal in one or more of a plurality of submodules in a second lift, based on percolating the total acid from a second lift to the first lift;

creating a tonnage weighted average of the metal for the one or more of the plurality of submodules in the second lift based on a percent of overlap, the percent of metal and a tonnage of material in the one or more of the plurality of submodules in the second lift,

wherein the percent of overlap is based on the one or more of a plurality of submodules in a second lift that are respectively over the one or more of the plurality of submodules in the first lift;

adding the tonnage weighted average of metal for the one or more of the plurality of submodules in the second lift to create a total tonnage weighted average of the metal in the second lift; and

transmitting an instruction signal to a leaching device for adjusting leaching operations to optimize metal production, based on the acid gap and the total tonnage weighted average of the metal in the second lift.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising determining the percent of overlap of the one or more of the plurality of submodules in the second lift that are respectively over the one or more of a plurality of submodules in the first lift and that impact the acid gap.

13 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising determining the tonnage of material in the one or more of the plurality of submodules in the first lift that impacts the acid gap.

14 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising transmitting an instruction signal to a material moving equipment, wherein the material moving equipment moves the material in at least one of the first lift or the second lift, in response to the instruction signal being received by the material moving equipment, to increase the percent of overlap of the one or more of the plurality of submodules in the second lift over the one or more of the plurality of submodules in the first lift and to optimize metal production based on the acid gap.

15 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising transmitting an instruction signal to a material moving equipment for adjusting, based on the total tonnage weighted average of metal in the first lift and the acid gap in the first lift, a stacking of the material in one or more of the plurality of submodules in the second lift over one or more of the plurality of submodules in the first lift.

16 . The method of claim 11 , the percent of overlap of the one or more of the plurality of submodules in the second lift is based on mine plan data and the acid gap.

17 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the adjusting the leaching operations is based on the acid gap and comprises changing ore routing in real-time.

18 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

determining, by a processor, deviations between forecast data for a mining production target and actual data for a mining production target; and

determining, by the processor, a contribution to the deviations by the acid gap, by a plurality of parameters and by the total tonnage weighted average of the metal in the first lift, in response to changing each of the plurality of parameters from the forecast data to the actual data.

19 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a percentage of compacted material in a first level of a stockpile, based on a first amount of material that is compacted and irrigated divided by a second amount of the material that is irrigated;

determining a stability of the first level of the stockpile, based on the percentage of compacted material in the first level of the stockpile;

monitoring how irrigation flows through the first level of the stockpile during leaching operations, based on the percentage of compacted material in the first level of the stockpile;

determining a reduction in the irrigation flows through the first level of the stockpile compared to the irrigation flows through a second level of the stockpile, based on higher percentage of the compacted material in the first level of the stockpile compared to a lower percentage of the compacted material in the second level of the stockpile;

determining that less metal is removed in the first level of the stockpile based on the higher percentage of the compacted material in the first level of the stockpile, compared to more metal being removed in the second level of the stockpile based on the lower percentage of the compacted material in the second level of the stockpile; and

adjusting at least one of pressure, a mass flow rate, or a volumetric flow rate of the leaching operations, based on the higher percentage of compacted material in the first level of the stockpile and the lower percentage of the compacted material in the second level of the stockpile.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (5)

References Cited (214)

Cited By (1)

US 12,731,087