Heap leaching in cold climates
Heap Leaching in Cold Climates
Technologies, equipment, economics, and practical experience in implementing heap leaching projects under severe climatic conditions.
On July 21–22, representatives of gold mining companies, design and engineering organizations, equipment manufacturers, reagent suppliers, research institutions, and service companies will gather in Khabarovsk to discuss real-world experience, technological challenges, and the economics of heap leaching projects.
The focus will be on the specific features of heap leaching projects in cold climates: year-round irrigation, ore preparation, solution management, and the reliability of engineering systems under low-temperature operating conditions.
The General Sponsor of the conference is Polyanka Group.
PRELIMINARY CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Day 1 — July 21
Session 1. General overview
- Heap leaching resource base in Russia and worldwide: gold and other minerals.
- Regions and conditions for heap leaching: prerequisites, specific features, and limitations.
- Prospects for expanding project geography and the range of applicable raw materials.
- Growth barriers and ways to overcome them.
Session 2. Mining issues and their impact on heap leaching processes
- Specific features of mining ores of different genetic types.
- The mine-to-heap concept: quality control from the face to the heap.
- New technologies and equipment for mining and haulage: pit — stockpile — crushing.
- Digitalization, process control systems, and AI applications for stabilizing heap leach feed streams by quantity and quality.
Session 3. Crushing, screening, and agglomeration
- Optimization of crushing circuits for variable ore feed.
- Modern equipment for crushing, screening, and agglomeration.
- Dust extraction and dust collection in heap leaching projects: proven approaches and recent experience.
- Pellet quality control: technologies and equipment.
Session 4. Heap pad design, stacking, and heap irrigation
- Pad foundation designs, modern geosynthetic materials, and current trends.
- Overland and grasshopper conveyors: “buy or build” strategy, in-house maintenance or contractor support.
- Stackers for heap leaching: selection based on ore characteristics and stacking scale.
- Irrigation systems: types and sprinkler designs for summer and winter operation.
- Key topic: specific aspects of year-round irrigation in cold climates.
Day 2 — July 22
Session 5. Leaching kinetics management
- Management of leaching kinetics and extraction dynamics.
- Modern equipment and reagents.
- Challenges in reducing water consumption.
- Managing solution degradation and bleed stream treatment.
Session 6. Solution processing and metal recovery
- Technologies and equipment for processing pregnant leach solutions.
- Precipitation methods, sorbents, and extractants.
- Electrowinning and production of finished products.
- Emerging Trends and Future Developments.
Session 7. Combining heap leaching and processing plants within a single project
- Heap leaching vs. gold processing / concentrator plants: what comes first, when, and why.
- Feed for two processing routes: selection criteria.
- Ore stream management at morphologically complex deposits; “transitional” ores.
- Experience in combining heap leaching with processing plants and lessons for the future.
- Prospects and limitations of moving from heap leaching to plant processing.
- Heap leaching of waste dumps and plant tailings: practice and open questions.
Session 8. Refractory and complex ores
- Processing of refractory feed: experience, technologies, equipment, and reagent regimes.
- Complex ores in heap leaching.
- Current examples of planning and implementing major projects for the processing of refractory and complex feed.
Participation Fee
Standard participation:
RUB 15,000 for the first participant
RUB 12,000 for each additional participant from the same company
For mining companies:
RUB 10,000 for the first participant
RUB 7,000 for each additional participant from the same company
Technical visit to Polyanka Deposit
On July 23–24, participants are invited to visit Polyanka Deposit, operated by Polyanka Group. The visit will be organized in two groups of up to 15 people each.
Participants will have an opportunity to learn about the production site, heap stacking and irrigation solutions, and the organization of the hydrometallurgical circuit directly at the General Sponsor’s facility.
Technical visit to the Amur Hydrometallurgical Plant (Amur HMP)
July 23 – Technical visit to the Amur Hydrometallurgical Plant. The visit will be organized for a single group of up to 15 participants.
Participants will have a rare opportunity to observe the complete processing flow of refractory gold-sulfide ores in operation — from concentrate reception and pressure oxidation (POX) to carbon-in-leach cyanidation and doré production. The visit will be of particular interest to professionals evaluating opportunities for processing complex ores, designing similar processing facilities, supplying reagents and equipment for hydrometallurgical operations, or seeking practical insights for upgrading existing processing circuits.
For participation, presentation submissions, and sponsorship inquiries
Alexander Dotsenko
Tel.: +7 909 913-75-07
E-mail: dotsenko@zolteh.ru
