One of the fundamental factors in the leaching process is the reduction in size of the material extracted from the mine.
For this, the mineral must be fragmented by primary, secondary and / or tertiary crushers, depending on the size required to reach.
In general, in the case of copper, the objective of the crushing stage is to obtain a mineralized material with a maximum size of 1.50 to 0.75 inches. This size will be sufficient to expose the oxidized minerals and / or secondary sulfides to the infiltration of acid solution.
We must consider that the larger the size of the particles to be leached, the lower the crushing cost, and the smaller this particle, the shorter the time necessary for the extraction of copper.
The final size should be selected looking for a minimum of fine material and the greatest possible uniformity, in order to achieve a leaching that allows the greatest possible recovery within the accepted time limits.
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