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How Do They Do That? In Situ Mining

Copper Applications in Mining & Extraction

November 1997

By BHP

In-situ mining is designed to co-exist with other land uses, such as agriculture. The in-situ mine will typically consist of a series of injection wells (A) and recovery wells (B). The wells are built with acid-resistant concrete and a PVC casing. At the level where the drill hold penetrates the copper-bearing rock (C), perforations in the casing allow a weak acid solution to be pumped into the ore to dissolve the copper. Then the copper-rich solution is drawn up through the recovery wells for processing at a nearby SX-EW (Solvent Extraction, Electrowinning) facility. Flow From Processing Plant + Flow To Processing Plant

This article is reprinted with permission from the publication, On CU,January – March, 1997,Vol. 1, No. 2.

On CU is the quarterly publication of
BHP Copper, a business group of
The Broken Hill Proprietary Corp., Ltd.
© 1997 BHP Copper BHP Copper
550 California Street
San Francisco,
California 94104

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On CU is the quarterly publication of BHP Copper, a business group of The Broken Hill Proprietary Corp., Ltd. © 1997 BHP Copper	BHP Copper 550 California Street San Francisco, California 94104