copper sulphide minerals
The most successful copper heap leaching operations have been those processing copper oxides and secondary copper sulphides (Table 1). Chalcocite (Cu2S) is the main copper sulphide mineral mined at bioleaching operations. Some of the chalcocite heap operations began as oxide (chemical) leach operations and were converted to bioleach (oxidative) operations by heap aeration and/or inoculation, when the oxidised ore was depleted.