Leaching — AI for CIP/CIL and heap leach circuits
Predictive control of dissolved oxygen, retention time, CCD thickener performance, and carbon loading, alongside reagent consumption tracking. AI forecasts recovery drops from chemistry shifts and pre-adjusts before extraction falls.
Overview
Leaching is where the metal finally dissolves — and where recovery is hardest to protect. A small shift in dissolved oxygen or slurry conditioning can cost percentage points of extraction that compound across an entire annual plan. Reagent imbalances increase operating costs and create environmental liabilities.
CIP/CIL circuits are especially demanding: carbon loading, advance cycles, and elution timing all interact. Heap leach adds weather, stacking geometry, and percolation dynamics that shift daily.
Brainiall AI Autopilot closes the loop by combining real-time chemistry, carbon assay trends, and mineralogical context. It anticipates where extraction is about to drift and adjusts operating parameters and timing to hold target recovery while tracking reagent trends for the metallurgist.
What Autopilot does
Continuous, multi-variable control — not single-loop PID. Advisory-layer architecture keeps safety untouched.
Reagent consumption tracking
Trends reagent consumption against feed chemistry and ore type and flags deviations for the metallurgist to review.
Dissolved O₂ & density control
Coordinates air/oxygen addition with pulp density to hold kinetics within the optimal window for each ore variant.
Carbon management (CIP/CIL)
Tracks loading profiles across the carbon advance, flags passivation, and triggers elution at optimal timing.
CCD thickener optimization
Balances flocculant dosage, underflow density, and wash water to maximize solute recovery while cutting chemical spend.
Heap percolation & irrigation
For heap leach: AI adjusts irrigation rate and rest cycles based on sensor arrays to avoid channeling and lift average recovery.
Variables continuously tuned
The AI reads every sensor on the circuit and solves the optimal setpoint combination in real time.
- Free CN⁻ concentration (ppm)Monitored across leaching stages for metallurgical tracking.
- Dissolved O₂ (ppm)Kinetic driver. AI compensates for temperature and altitude.
- pH (protective alkalinity)Keeps HCN in check. Too low releases gas; too high wastes lime.
- Carbon loading (g Au / t C)Elution trigger. AI watches advance and gold balance.
- Pulp density (% solids)Affects retention time and carbon abrasion.
Every percentage point of extraction recovered in a CIL circuit is pure gold — literally. For a 500 kt/y gold plant at 1.5 g/t head grade, a single point of recovery represents roughly 240 oz/year of additional gold. Combined with operating discipline and lower lime consumption, Brainiall leaching optimization delivers measurable margin improvements directly to the bottom line.
