In situ leach (ISL) technology is used for exploitation different types of the deposits, how ever, the most sophisticated version of the ISL technology was developed for mining uranium from the weakly lithified sandstones.
The method is based on dissolving the uranium minerals directly in their host rocks by reactive solutions injected through the drill holes distributed along the regular pattern (Abzalov 2012).
Solutions dissolve uranium minerals directly in the host rocks and are then pumped to the surface through the extraction drill holes. The pregnant solutions are collected on the surface and supplied to the processing plant where uranium is extracted.
A significant advantage of the ISL operations over conventional mining is their low capital and production costs. The favourable economics of the ISL technology coupled with specific technical characteristics of the method allow to use it for mining the low grade deposits hosted in the unconsolidated sands at the depth up to 600 m below surface, which cannot be mined by conventional methods (Abzalov 2012).
The method is based in its entirety on the drilling and therefore the surface disturbance at the ISL operations is minimal. This is another advantage of the ISL technologies in comparison with the conventional mining methods. All these features have made the ISL technology a favourable option for exploitation of the sandstone hosted uranium deposits (Abzalov 2012) and for mining some industrial minerals (e.g. salt, potash).
