Dr. David Dreisinger

Professor

B.A.Sc., Ph.D., P. Eng.

Office: FF 415

Email: david.dreisinger@ubc.ca

Phone: 604-822-4805

Research and Teaching Interests

Hydrometallurgy, solvent extraction, electrochemical kinetics, waste treatment, biohydro-metallurgy, ion exchange, process modelling

Current Research Work

My interests lie in the area of technology development and technology transfer. The Hydrometallurgy Chair has allowed me to become intimately acquainted with “state-of-the-art” hydrometallurgical practice. I have visited virtually every major hydrometallurgical facility in Canada and many of those in the U.S. and outside North America. The Chair program has allowed me to freely discuss my ideas with Chair supporters and to learn what challenges and needs exist within the Hydrometallurgy industry. This has led to industrially oriented research projects. These projects have an end result in mind but delve deeply into the fundamental science of the field. Key results achieved by my group at UBC include:

  • Development of an enhanced ion exchange method for removing antimony and bismuth from copper refinery electrolyte. Our development of a pre-reduction solution treatment resulted in a U.S. patent being granted. The process has been licensed by the University to Noranda Inc. and has undergone commercial development at the CCR Copper Refinery in Montreal, Canada.
  • Development of a new process for the recovery of copper from copper matte. This process has been patented in the United States and is currently under patent application worldwide. The process has been licensed by the University to BHP Copper for commercial development and is undergoing pilot scale evaluation.
  • Development of an ion exchange process for iron control in copper electrowinning operations. This process has grown out of our work on antimony and bismuth removal and has been performed in collaboration with Eichrom Industries of Darien, Illinois. This process has been patented in the United States and is currently under patent application worldwide. The first commercial installation has been commissioned at the Mexicana de Cobre operation in Cananea, Mexico. The second is about to be started at the Mt. Gordon Copper Company in Australia.
  • Patenting of a new process for recovery of copper from chalcopyrite concentrates. This process has been developed in concert with Anglo American Corporation and is known as the AAC/UBC Copper Process. The process is owned by Anglo American Corporation but ½ of the royalties from licensing of the process to others are given to the University.
  • Invention with others of the PLATSOL process for recovery of base and precious metals (platinum, palladium, gold, other platinum group elements). This process is under worldwide patent application and worldwide development.
  • Development of a process for the recovery of gold from carbonaceous, refractory gold ores. This work began in our laboratory at U.B.C. and has since gone on to further development at Lakefield Research in Ontario. The process has been patented in the United States (2 U.S. patents) and is being evaluated for commercial development by Barrick Gold Corporation.
  • The generation of new information on the oxidative pressure leaching of zinc and copper concentrates and the role of liquid sulfur and surfactants in the leach chemistry.
  • Development of a fundamental understanding of the copper-antimony process for the removal of cobalt from zinc plant electrolytes.
  • Development of fundamental understanding of the leaching behaviour of oxides, sulfides and arsenides leading to process improvements at INCO Limited’s CRED plant in Sudbury, Canada.
  • Helping Rayrock Mines understand and optimize the biological leaching of copper from secondary sulfides in a saline environment. This information was used in the development of the Ivan Mine in Chile.
  • Develop a fundamental understanding of the electrochemistry of nickel plating (and hydrogen evolution) in mixed chloride-sulfate baths.
  • Generally cultivate and grow a vibrant University-Industry interface in the field of Hydrometallurgy. This has led to the expansion of the group of Hydrometallurgy Chair supporters to 17 and the establishment of two new Chairs – The Industrial Research Chair in Biohydrometallurgy and the NSERC/Industry Research Chair in Aqueous Electrometallurgy.

Publications

Refereed Journal Publications

  • Jiang, H., Dreisinger, D.B., “Comparative Study of Auxiliary Oxidants in the Cyanidation of Silver Sulfide”, submitted to Hydrometallurgy (in revision), (2015).
  • Lu, J., Dreisinger, D.B., “Two Stage Countercurrent Solvent Extraction of Copper from Cuprous Chloride Solution”, Hydrometallurgy (2015) 150, 41-46.
  • Melashvili, M., Fleming, C., Dymov, I., Matthews, D., Dreisinger, D., “Equation for Thiosulfate Yield during Pyrite Oxidation”, Minerals Engineering (2015) 74, 105-111.
  • Mokmeli, M., Dreisinger, D.B., Wassink, B., “Modelling of Selenium and Tellurium Removal from Copper Electrowinning Solution”, Hydrometallurgy (2015), 12-20.
  • Tavakoli, M.R., Dreisinger, D.B., “The Kinetics of Oxidative Leaching of Vanadium Trioxide”, Hydrometallurgy (2014), 147-148, 83-89.
  • Burns, A.O., Patrick, B.O., Lam, A.E., Dreisinger, D.B., “The Effect of Coordinated Water on the Connectivity of Uranium (IV) sulfate x-hydrate”, Acta Cryst. (2014), C70, 726-731.
  • Mokmeli, M., Dreisinger, D.B., Wassink, B., “Thermodynamics and Kinetics Study of Tellurium Removal with Cuprous Ion”, Hydrometallurgy (2014), 147-148, 20-29.
  • Wu, Z., Dreisinger, D.B., Urch, H., Fassbender, S., “Fundamental Study of Lead Recovery from Cerussite Concentrate with Methanesulfonic Acid (MSA)”, Hydrometallurgy (2014), 142, 23-35.
  • Wu, Z., Dreisinger, D.B., Urch, H., Fassbender, S., “The Kinetics of Leaching Galena Concentrates with Methanesulfonic Acid (MSA)”, Hydrometallurgy (2014), 142, 121-130.
  • Xie, F., Ting, T.Z., Dreisinger, D.B., Doyle, F., “A Critical Review on Solvent Extraction of Rare Earths from Aqueous Solutions”, Minerals Engineering (2014), 56, 10-28.
  • Lu, J., Dreisinger, D.B., Gluck, T., “Manganese Electrodeposition – A Literature Review”, Hydrometallurgy (2014), 141, 105-116.
  • Tavakoli, M.R., Dornian, S., Dreisinger, D.B., “The Leaching of Vanadium Pentoxide using Sulphuric Acid and Sulphite as a Reducing Agent”, Hydrometallurgy (2014), 141, 59-66.
  • Tavakoli, M.R., Dreisinger, D.B., “Separation of Vanadium from Iron by Solvent Extraction using Acidic and Neutral Organophosphorus Extractants”, Hydrometallurgy (2014), 141, 17-23.
  • Lu, J., Dreisinger, D.B., “Pressure Oxidation of Ferrous Ions by Oxygen and Hematite Precipitation from Concentrated Solution of Calcium, Copper and Iron Chlorides”, Hydrometallurgy (2013) 140, 59-65.
  • Deutsch, Jared L., Dreisinger, David B., Silver Sulfide Leaching with Thiosulfate in the Presence of Additives Part I: Copper-Ammonia Leaching, Hydrometallurgy (2013), 137, 156-164.
  • Deutsch, Jared L., Dreisinger, David B., Silver Sulfide Leaching with Thiosulfate in the Presence of Additives Part II: Ferric Complexes and the Application to Silver Sulfide Ore, Hydrometallurgy (2013), 137, 165-172.
  • Lu, J., Dreisinger, D.B., “Solvent Extraction of Copper from Chloride Solution 1: Extraction Isotherms”, Hydrometallurgy (2013), 137, 13-17.
  • Lu, J., Guo, H., Dreisinger, D., Downing, B., “Effects of Current Density and Nickel as an Impurity on Zinc Electrowinning”, Journal of Metallurgical Engineering (2013), Volume 2 Issue 3, July 2013 www.me­ journal.org.
  • Lu, J., Dreisinger, D.S., “Copper Leaching from Chalcopyrite Concentrate in Cu(ll)/Fe(lll) Chloride System”, Minerals Engineering (2013), 45, 185-190
  • Mokmeli, M., Wassink B., Dreisinger, D., “Kinetics Study of Selenium Removal from Copper Sulfate­ Sulfuric Acid Solution”, Hydrometallurgy (2013), 139, 13-25.
  • Lu, J., Dreisinger, D., “Solvent Extraction of Copper from Chloride Solution II: Cuprous Oxidation by Oxygen Coupled with Simultaneous Cupric Solvent Extraction”, Hydrometallurgy (2013), 138, 48-53.
  • Xie, F., Dreisinger, D.B., Doyle, F., “A Review on Recovery of Copper and Cyanide from waste Cyanide Solutions”, Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy Review: An International Journal, (2013), 34:6, 387-411.
  • Nazari, G., Dixon, D.G., Dreisinger, D., “The role of silver-enhanced pyrite in enhancing the electrical conductivity of sulfur product layer during chalcopyrite leaching in the Galvanox™ process”. Hydrometallurgy (2012) 113-114, 177-184.
  • Nazari, G., Dixon, D.G., Dreisinger, D., “The mechanism of chalcopyrite leaching in the presence of silver-enhanced pyrite in the Galvanox™ process”. Hydrometallurgy (2012) 113-114, 122-130.
  • Nazari, G., Dixon, D.G., Dreisinger, D., “The role of galena associated with silver-enhanced pyrite in the kinetics of chalcopyrite leaching during the Galvanox™ process”. Hydrometallurgy (2012) 111-112C, 35- 45.

    • Refereed Conference Proceedings

  • Dreisinger, D.B., Verbaan, N., Forstner, C., Fitch, R., “Hydrometallurgical Extraction of Precious, Rare and Base Metals Using an Oxidizing Acid Chloride Heap Leach”, Proceedings of Rare Metal Technology 2015, Eds: Neelameggham, N.R., Alam, S., Oosterhof, H., Jha, A., Dreisinger, D., Wang, S., TMS (Warrendale), (2015), pp. 87-100.
  • Melashvili, M., Fleming, C., Dymov, I., Matthews, D., Dreisinger, D., “Dissolution of Gold during Pyrite Oxidation Reaction”, Proceedings of Precious Metals ’15, Falmouth, Wales, May 10-12, 2015, 18 pps.
  • Tavakoli, M. R., Dreisinger, D.B., “Vanadium Purification: A Review”, COM 2014 – Conference of Metallurgists Proceedings (2014), 11 pages.
  • Dreisinger, D., “Hydrometallurgical Treatment of Arsenic Containing Materials”, COM 2014 – Conference of Metallurgists Proceedings (2014), KEYNOTE LECTURE, 15 pages.
  • Dreisinger, D., Verbaan, N., Johnson, M., “The Processing of REE’s from Search Minerals Foxtrot Resource – an Update”, COM 2014 – Conference of Metallurgists Proceedings (2014), 13 pages.
  • Abbasi, P., McKevitt, 8., Dreisinger, D., “Study of Kinetics of Fe(II) Loading onto lminodiacetic Ion Exchange Resin”, Proceedings of Hydrometallurgy 2014, Volume 2, Eds: Edouard Asselin et al, CIM METSOC(Montreal), 295-305.
  • Mokmeli, M., Dreisinger, D., Wassink, 8., “Fundamental Studies in Selenium and Tellurium Removal from Copper Sulfate-Sulfuric Acid Solutions with Application to Industrial Purification”, Proceedings of Hydrometallurgy 2014, Volume 2, Eds: Edouard Asselin et al, CIM METSOC(Montreal), 643-655.
  • Burns, A., Dreisinger, D., “The Apparent Overall Oxidation Kinetics of Uranium (IV) by Oxygen Gas in Aqueous Perchloric Acid Solutions”, Proceedings of Hydrometallurgy 2014, Volume 2, Eds: Edouard Asselin et al, CIM METSOC(Montreal), 789-800 .
  • Tavakoli, M.R., Dreisinger, D., “Vanadium Oxides Leaching: An Overview”, Proceedings of Hydrometallurgy 2014, Volume 2, Eds: Edouard Asselin et al, CIM METSOC(Montreal), 801-812.
  • Dreisinger, D., Clucas, J., Reymenants, G., “THE STARVED ACID LEACHING TECHNOLOGY (SALT) FOR NI/CO RECOVERY FROM LEAN ORES AND RESIDUES”, Proceedings of ALTA 2014, Perth, May, 2014.

    • Resources

    To find out more about our research and our team please visit our group website at hydromet.group or refer to the UBC Hydrometallurgy Research Group page.