Abstract

Agglomeration of fine particles to produce agglomerates with desired properties (e.g., size distribution, internal pores, and stability) is a critically important precursor to heap leaching. In this work, the effect of the properties of agglomerates prepared by geopolymerization on column bioleaching was investigated. The agglomerates were prepared with different metakaolin addition and alkali activator composition. Reducing the metakaolin addition and increasing the sodium silicate content in the alkali activator was beneficial to increasing agglomerate size. With the increase of agglomerate size, size distribution uniformity also improved. NMR analysis showed that agglomerates prepared with minor metakaolin addition and alkali activator composed of fewer Na₂SiO₃ had more and larger pores. Column bioleaching experiments showed that the agglomerates with more and larger pores had lower permeability and higher copper extraction. For more efficient leaching, the added alkali activator did not need to contain NaOH. This study’s results can guide the agglomeration operation based on geopolymerization to prepare agglomerates that better meet the requirements of heap leaching.

中文翻译：

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地质聚合制备团聚体性质对柱生物浸出的影响

摘要

细颗粒附聚以产生具有所需性质（例如，尺寸分布、内部孔隙和稳定性）的附聚物是堆浸出的极其重要的前体。在这项工作中，研究了通过地质聚合制备的附聚物的性质对柱生物浸出的影响。附聚物是用不同的偏高岭土添加量和碱活化剂组成制备的。减少偏高岭土的添加量和增加碱性活化剂中硅酸钠的含量有利于增加团聚体尺寸。随着附聚物尺寸的增加，尺寸分布的均匀性也得到改善。NMR 分析表明，添加少量偏高岭土和由较少 Na ₂ SiO _{3组成的碱活化剂制备的附聚物}毛孔越来越大。柱生物浸出实验表明，孔隙较多、较大的团聚体具有较低的渗透性和较高的铜提取率。为了更有效地浸出，添加的碱活化剂不需要含有NaOH。该研究结果可以指导基于地质聚合的团聚操作，制备更符合堆浸要求的团聚体。