Synapse Group
Heap leach irrigation monitoring
Uneven irrigation is copper that never comes out.
Pressure and flow per sector, blockage inference, irrigation maps and alerts before the cycle is lost. Smart heap leaching on pads that are already running.
Get in touchWhen it shows up
If this is happening, this is the problem.
Emitter inspection is visual and on foot, and cannot cover the module within the cycle.
Dry sectors are suspected and there is no way to confirm it while it is happening.
Module recovery does not match what the mineralogy led you to expect.
A pressure rise in a line is discovered once a lateral has already burst.
How we approach it
What gets installed and how detection works.
- 01
What gets measured
Pressure and flow per sector as the base, plus temperature, volumetric moisture, conductivity, pH and ORP in solution where the process calls for it. On the surface, thermal or drone imagery to see the full irrigation footprint.
- 02
How blockage is inferred
A blocked emitter raises upstream pressure and lowers the branch flow. Expected hydraulic behaviour of the sector is compared against the measured one, and the deviation is attributed to blockage, rupture or compaction according to its signature.
- 03
Map and prioritisation
A per-sector irrigation map with its history, so the crew goes where there is evidence rather than on a sweep. Inspection stops being a walk-through and becomes a list ordered by impact.
- 04
What happens with the notice
Per-sector alert, opening or closing, irrigation rate adjustment and emitter maintenance scheduling. The decision returns to the pad within the cycle, which is while it still helps.
Where it applies
The industries where this problem weighs most.
The same work changes scale and standard by front, not nature. These are the pages with the context for each one.
What it is measured against
The indicators are set before anything is installed.
A pilot without a baseline is no basis for a scale-up decision. These are the indicators the work is designed against, measured before starting so there is something to compare with.
- DU — distribution uniformity
- The central indicator. Measured at any point in the cycle, not only at the start, when any pad looks fine.
- Sectors out of range per cycle
- How many sectors operated outside their pressure or flow window, and for how long.
- Time from anomaly to action
- How long passes between a sector drifting and somebody servicing the emitter.
- Specific acid consumption
- Per tonne treated, to cross irrigation behaviour with process behaviour.
Frequently asked
What we get asked before the first meeting.
What is distribution uniformity (DU) and why aim at 90%?
DU measures how evenly solution is applied over the pad: a sector receiving half the flow leaches differently, and that difference ends up in recovery. The 90% figure appears as an explicit target in the public terms of the heap irrigation homogeneity challenge Codelco published in 2026, and is used as an industry reference: it is a public document, not work of ours.
How do you detect a blocked emitter without going to look at it?
Through hydraulics. A blocked emitter reduces branch flow and raises upstream pressure; the combination of both signals separates blockage from a rupture, which does exactly the opposite. Resolution depends on the level of instrumentation: by module, by sector or by lateral.
Can a pad already in operation be instrumented?
Yes, and it is the normal case. Instrumentation goes on the distribution lines and sector headers, not inside the ore, so it does not depend on how the module was built. You start with one module and scale on the evidence from that perimeter.
Does it apply to sulphide leaching and not only oxides?
The distribution problem is the same, and in long cycles it weighs more, because a poorly irrigated zone carries the deviation for months. What changes between routes is which solution chemistry is worth monitoring and the operating window of each sector.
What happens to the sensors when the module is rebuilt?
Distribution instrumentation is recovered and reinstalled with the new build; it is part of the expected cycle and is sized that way from the design stage. What persists is the history, which is what later allows modules to be compared with each other.
Contact
Let's talk.
If you have an operational challenge, an innovation project in mind or a question about applying technology to your industry, get in touch.
proyectos@synapsegroup.techWe reply within 48 business hours.