COMPACTED PERMEABILITY

Compacted permeability testing provides insight into soil/ore behavior at various depths of the heap leach stack. As the lift height of the heap leach pad increases, so does the pressure of the compacted ore within. Increased compaction affects solution flow, saturation, and leaching performance. An understanding of geotechnical properties, including ore porosity, texture, composition and compaction, helps minimize the adverse effects of compaction to maintain extraction performance.