Coupling of electrokinetics with in situ leach mining for next generation “key-hole” mining of metals from ores and wastes, [Mining and Minerals Engineering] – PhD (Funded) Ref: 3866
Main supervisor
Dr Rich Crane, Camborne School of Mines & Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter.
Co-supervisors
Professor Karen Hudson-Edwards, Environment & Sustainability Institute and Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter.
Professor Henning Prommer, School of Earth Sciences, University of Western Australia.
About the Award
The University of Exeter’s College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences is inviting applications for a fully-funded PhD studentship to commence in September 2020 or as soon as possible thereafter. For eligible students the studentship will cover UK/EU tuition fees plus an annual tax-free stipend of at least £15,009 for 3.5 years full-time, or pro rata for part-time study. The student would be based in the Camborne School of Mines in the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences at the Penryn Campus in Cornwall.
Location: Camborne School of Mines & Environment and Sustainability Institute, Penryn Campus, Cornwall
This PhD project will seek to deliver a new technology for the mining and waste reprocessing industries which will enable the recovery of metals from ores and legacy waste with radically less environmental disturbance, mine waste generation and energy input. In particular the research will focus on developing a mechanistic understanding of how we can combine in situ leach mining with electrokinetics and other hybrid approaches (ultrasonication, microwave activity, etc.) in order to: (1) precisely control the subsurface movement of a leaching chemical; and (2) “force” it through low hydraulic conductivity geological formations.