Study on Continuously Weakening Mechanism of Heap Leaching Velocity of Weathered Rare Earth Ores with the Increase of Ore Burial Depth

The column leaching experiments, CT, numerical simulation and fractal theory were adopted to study the continuously weakening mechanism of the heap leaching velocity of weathered rare earth ores with the increase of ore burial depth. The variation characteristics of pore structure and the seepage law of solution in ore samples at different depths during leaching were explored, respectively. The results showed that the variation of characteristic parameters of the pore structure in the lower ore samples was the main reason for the decrease in the leaching velocity. For the lower ore samples after leaching, the number of pores with a pore volume of less than 0.01 mm3 and a pore radius of less than 0.8 mm increased, while pore connectivity, the fractal dimension of the pore shape, the ratio of pore length to width and pore throat length reduced. The solution paths of the upper and middle ore samples were concentrated while that of the lower samples were few, even interrupted. The pore pressure of the ore samples decreased after leaching, especially that of the lower ore samples. The research results are helpful to enrich the basic theory on the heap leaching of weathered rare earth ores.