The Value of Geoelectric Leak Detection Services for the Mining Industry

The authors have performed an economic analysis of performing geoelectric leak location surveys on heap leach pads for gold and copper mining. Most likely average values for the input variables yielded benefit-to-cost ratios of 6.2 for gold mining and 5.6 for copper mining. The probability that the benefit-to-cost ratio for gold heap leaching would be greater than one was 97%, while the probability for copper was 96%. The benefit-to-cost ratios were determined by calculating the liner leakage rate and equivalent value of the lost solution versus the cost of performing a leak: detection survey to find the leaks. Due to the large fluctuations in operating parameters for each heap leach site, a site-specific analysis would have to be performed to most accurately determine the benefit-to-cost ratio for a particular site, especially when leaching low grade ore, placing the liner on low permeability subgrade, or operating with low head. All monetary values presented herein are in US dollars.