MoReLeach Patent & Technical Description

MetaLeach has been granted a patent for a Method Oxidative Leaching of Molybdenum – Rhenium Sulphide Ores and/or Concentrates in Australia, with patents in other countries pending.  The patent is directed to the MoReLeach technology, a sister technology to the Company’s HyperLeach^® technology (patents granted and pending).

The patent describes a method for leaching molybdenum and/or rhenium from a sulphide ore and/or concentrate containing such, the method comprising the steps of:

• Exposing the ore and/or concentrate to an aqueous solution of chlorine-based oxidising species in which the sum of the concentrations of hypochlorite and hypochlorous acid is at least 10mol% of the chlorine-based oxidising species;
• Allowing and/or facilitating the oxidation of the molybdenum and/or rhenium by the hypochlorite and/or hypochlorous acid, thereby decreasing the pH such that the predominant chlorine-based oxidising species becomes chlorine;
• Allowing and/or facilitating the oxidation of the molybdenum and/or rhenium by the chlorine thereby producing a pregnant leach solution; and
• Passing the pregnant leach solution to a means for metal recovery.