Tank leaching is usually differentiated from vat leaching on the following factors:
# In tank leaching the material is ground sufficiently fine to form a slurry or pulp, which can flow under gravity or when pumped. In vat leaching typically a coarser material is placed in the vat for leaching, this reduces the cost of size reduction;
# Tanks are typically equipped with agitators, baffles, gas introduction equipment designed to maintain the solids in suspension in the slurry, and  achieve leaching. Vats usually do not contain much internal equipment, except for agitators.
# Tank leaching is typically continuous, while vat leaching is operated in a batch fashion, this is not always the case, and commercial processes using continuous vat leaching have been tested;
# Typically the retention time required for vat leaching is more than that for tank leaching to achieve the same percentage of recovery of the valuable material being leached;
In a tank leach the slurry is moved, while in a vat leach the solids remain in the vat, and solution is moved.