Tavsan - Short-term or long-term leaching?25 Sep 2025 10:08
We are waiting for Ariana to confirm the production of gold from the heap leach process at Tavsan, it could be a lengthy wait depending on the leaching process.
Type of Gold Heap Leaching Process
The industrial gold heap leaching process can be divided into two types, one is short-term gold heap leaching and the other is long-term gold heap leaching.
In the short-term gold heap leaching process, the ore is usually crushed to less than 20 mm. When processing gold-bearing quartz veins, it is often crushed to less than 6 mm. The crushed ore heap is leached on a permanent bottom mat, with stack height of generally 3-6 meters, per heap processing volume of 100-10000 tons, and per heap leaching cycle of generally 7-30 days. After a cycle of leaching is completed, the waste is removed from the bottom mat, and then a new batch of crushed gravel is piled up for the next cycle of leaching.
During long-term gold heap leaching method, using open-pit mining of loose and unbroken low-grade ore, which may contain some giant gravel, but most of the feedstock is less than 150 mm, and the capacity is 10,000-2,000,000 tons of ore per heap. The heap is similar to a truncated cone with 6-10-meter height. This heap has a long leaching period of about 4-5 months, which is based on the principle of leaching most of the useful mineral in the heap and may require a leaching period for several years. After the leaching is completed, the waste is piled on the bottom pad.
Sign In
Follow the stocks
