In-situ recovery (ISR) is a low-cost, percolation leaching method that recovers minerals by dissolving them in situ with a lixiviant and extracting the product through bore holes. It is widely used for uranium production and is increasingly being considered for the extraction of copper and other metals. Evaluating ISR mining projects requires a reliable prediction of the operational and commercial potential for extracting minerals by ISR. The predicted production can be evaluated by simulating the solution extraction process in the subsurface using reactive transport modelling techniques. This paper presents a case study in which the in-situ copper recovery from an abandoned mine site at Kapunda, Australia is evaluated as part of a scoping study. In this study, copper leaching and the transport of the resulting solution under well operating conditions (injection and extraction) are modelled over the mining area. COMSOL Multiphysics was used to establish an integrated simulation model of reactive fluid flow through different domains, including wells, fractured rock masses and old underground workings from previous mining operations. This paper also describes the derivation of the major input parameters from site investigations including the estimation of hydraulic conductivity from the fracture information and the copper leaching rate from the initial leaching tests. The potential for the Kapunda mine site to become the first operating in-situ copper recovery mine in Australia is currently being evaluated and the project is currently at the scoping study stage. This paper contributes to the evaluation by presenting an ISR copper production model for the Kapunda site that can be used in an initial economic analysis.

原位回收 (ISR) 是一种低成本的渗滤浸出方法，它通过用浸出剂将矿物原位溶解并通过钻孔提取产品来回收矿物。它广泛用于铀生产，并越来越多地被考虑用于提取铜和其他金属。评估 ISR 采矿项目需要可靠地预测 ISR 开采矿物的运营和商业潜力。可以通过使用反应输运建模技术模拟地下溶液提取过程来评估预测的产量。本文介绍了一个案例研究，其中评估了澳大利亚 Kapunda 废弃矿场的原位铜回收作为范围研究的一部分。在这项研究中，在矿区模拟了铜浸出和在井操作条件下（注入和提取）产生的溶液的运输。COMSOL Multiphysics 用于建立反应流体流经不同领域的集成仿真模型，包括井、裂隙岩体和以前采矿作业的旧地下作业。本文还描述了从现场调查中推导的主要输入参数，包括从裂缝信息估计导水率和从初始浸出试验中得出的铜浸出率。目前正在评估 Kapunda 矿场成为澳大利亚第一个运营的原位铜回收矿的潜力，该项目目前处于范围研究阶段。