ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,553,106, issued on Feb. 17, was assigned to Glencore Technology Pty Ltd. (Brisbane, Australia).
"Sulphide oxidation in leaching of minerals" was invented by Paul Voigt (Brisbane, Australia).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A process for treating minerals containing metal sulphide and a precious metal, the process comprising fine grinding the minerals and subjecting the minerals to a first leaching step conducted under oxidising conditions at a pH of from 5 to 7, and subjecting a pulp or suspension or solid residue from the first leaching step to a second leaching step conducted under oxidising conditions at a pH of at least 9.0."
The paten...