Client: Epoint Agro https://www.epointagro.com/heap-leaching;
Epoint Agro provides advanced solutions for irrigation management with the aim of reduced consumption of water, fertilizers and energy.

Project key: local/cloud-platform, flush-management, radio-controls Based on the Epoint platform, we developed a heap leaching flush-management solution for copper and gold mining. Heap leaching flush-management? It’s no surprise if you never heard of that. During heap leaching, the mineral is extracted from the ore by continuously trickling hydrochloric acid or cyanide over a heap of ore. The liquid is collected again at the bottom. The mineral is then extracted from the liquid by electrolysis, for example. The heap generally has a surface area equivalent to that of tens of football pitches and can be tens of metres in height. Every few months, a new layer of a few meters depth of ore is added to the heap.

To prevent the trickle hoses becoming blocked up, the lines have to be flushed through according to a 24/7 schedule. The flushing valves are located in mobile units and are linked via radio communication to a control unit that operates and monitors the schedule. The control unit is linked to the flush-management-server, where the overall process is administered.

For the end users, a web portal is developed which gives an indication of the current situation and all planned flushing operations. Alongside its scalability in the cloud, this platform also operates on a local industrial computer.