ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 3 -- United States Patent no. 12,781,308, issued on Nov. 3, was assigned to Enhanced Geo Holdings LLC (Thonotosassa, Fla.).
"Geothermally powered pyrometallurgical copper production" was invented by Greg Lindberg (Thonotosassa, Fla.) and Kimberly C. Conner (Wetumpka, Ala.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A geothermally powered copper production system includes a geothermal system with a wellbore extending from a surface into an underground magma reservoir. A hopper receives a copper oxide ore that is crushed and provided to a leach heap to produce a copper-rich pregnant leach solution. The pregnant leach solution is provided to a settler that is heated by a heat transfer f...