Method for the treatment of ore material

Abstract

A method for treating an ore material with electro-magnetic energy, the method comprising at least the steps of: agglomerating the ore material; irradiating the ore material with electromagnetic energy; thereby heating the liquid in the ore material; vapourising at least a portion of the liquid in the ore material; forming micro-channels in the ore material, and acid leaching the ore material.

1 . A method for treating an ore material with electromagnetic energy, the method comprising the steps of:
 agglomerating the ore material;   irradiating the ore material with electromagnetic energy;   thereby heating the liquid in the ore material;   vapourising at least a portion of the liquid in the ore material;   forming micro-channels in the ore material; and   acid leaching the ore material.   
     
     
         2 . A method for treating an ore material according to  claim 1 , wherein the method comprises the further step of:
 crushing the ore material to provide ore particles,   
       prior to the step of:
 agglomerating the ore material. 
 
     
     
         3 . A method for treating an ore material according to  claim 2 , wherein the ore particles have an average diameter of less than 5 cm. 
     
     
         4 . A method for treating an ore material according to any one of the proceeding claims, wherein the step of:
 acid leaching the ore material,   
       is conducted using sulphuric acid (H 2 SO 4 ) or ferric acid (H 2 FeO 4 ) or a combination of both. 
     
     
         5 . A method for treating an ore material according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the step of:
 agglomerating the ore material.   
       is carried out in a solution of acid and water: 
     
     
         6 . A method for treating an ore material according to  claim 5 , wherein the acid is sulphuric acid. 
     
     
         7 . A method for treating an ore material according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the step of:
 agglomerating the ore material,   
       is carried out for a period ranging between about an hour to several days. 
     
     
         8 . A method for treating an ore material according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the method comprises the further step of:
 curing the ore material;   
       after the step of:
 agglomerating the ore material; 
 
       or during the step of:
 irradiating the ore material with electromagnetic energy. 
 
     
     
         9 . A method for treating an ore material according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the liquid content within the ore material is about 5 w/w % to about 30 w/w %. 
     
     
         10 . A method for treating an ore material according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the ore material is fed as a bulk flow of material down a pipe to a troughed or flat conveyor to be supplied to an electromagnetic treatment assembly for irradiating with electromagnetic energy. 
     
     
         11 . A method for treating an ore material according to  claim 10 , wherein the electromagnetic treatment assembly is an assembly that can support a homogenous electric field distribution that can heat the liquid content contained within 90% of the ore material. 
     
     
         12 . A method for treating an ore material according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the step of:
 irradiating the ore material with electromagnetic energy,   
       comprises the movement of the ore material through an applicator or cavity. 
     
     
         13 . A method for treating an ore material according to any one of the previous claims, wherein the step of:
 irradiating the ore material with electromagnetic energy,   
       comprises exposing the ore material to the electromagnetic energy in batch mode. 
     
     
         14 . A method for treating an ore material according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the ore material passes an electromagnetic energy zone on a conveyor as a bed of ore material. 
     
     
         15 . A method for treating an ore material according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the ore material is exposed to a continuous source of electromagnetic energy. 
     
     
         16 . A method for treating an ore material according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the ore material is exposed to a pulsed source of electromagnetic energy. 
     
     
         17 . A method for treating an ore material according to any of the preceding claims, wherein irradiating the ore material forms a power density ranging between 1−10 5  to 1×10 12  w/m 3  in the liquid phase of the ore material. 
     
     
         18 . A method for treating an ore material according to  claim 16 , wherein the ore material is irradiated with continuous source of electromagnetic energy for less than about 10 seconds. 
     
     
         19 . A method for treating an ore material according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the electromagnetic energy is electromagnetic radiation having frequencies in the range of 1-10,000 MHz. 
     
     
         20 . A method for treating an ore material according to  claim 19 , wherein the electromagnetic radiation is either microwave energy or radio frequency energy. 
     
     
         21 . A method of treating an ore material according to any one of the proceeding claims, wherein the method comprises the further step of:
 recovering metal values   
       prior to the step of:
 acid leaching the ore material with electromagnetic energy.