Quebrada Blanca is a porphyry copper deposit located in the Eocene-Oligocene belt of Chilean Andes. Operation started in 1994 and original reserves for supergene mineralisation gave a life-of-mine (LOM) of 20 years; however, further exploration extended the LOM until 2020._x000D_
In order to optimise the remaining five years of supergene resource, geometallurgical variables were added to the geological model including copper recovery and acid consumption. LOM plan encompasses finishing the phase number eight and the future development of phases 11 and 13._x000D_
LOM lithologies include diorites, quartz monzonites, porphyries, igneous and tourmaline breccias. Main alterations are: potassic, phyllic and argillic. Litho-alterations or geometallurgical units were formed by combining five types of rocks with three types of alteration. According to statistical information, the deposit can be represented with 12 litho-alteration units, which cover 98 per cent of the LOM volume._x000D_
For copper recovery information, there were 40 mini-columns tests made in order to obtain kinetics curves and copper recovery values after comparing the difference between head and tails grades. Acid consumption was obtained using an automatic neutraliser device-based test._x000D_
Historical data said that copper recovery in pads after 450 days of irrigation is around 75 per cent of recoverable copper while acid consumption is around 5.5 kg/t._x000D_
According to this study, lower recoveries are related with potassic-altered diorites and argillic-altered quartz monzonites with values around 60 per cent. On the other hand, best recoveries could be found in potassic-altered quartz monzonites and argillic-altered diorites with values closer to 80 per cent._x000D_
It was also revealed that the most reactive rock is the potassic-altered diorite with 12 kg/t of acid consumption. This rock covers approximately 40 per cent from phases 11 and 13._x000D_
The final geomet model was calculated using a program that relates each geometallurgical unit with a specific copper recovery and acid consumption value. Results found after comparing model-obtained information with historical leached pads data were used to validate the model._x000D_
CITATION: Chait, E and Schiller, R, 2016. Adding Copper Recovery and Acid Consumption Variables to the Geological Model of Quebrada Blanca, in Proceedings The Third AusIMM International Geometallurgy Conference (GeoMet) 2016, pp 257-266 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).