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Comparison of bioleaching of a sulfidic copper ore (chalcopyrite) in column percolators and in stirred-tank bioreactors including microbial community analysis.
Bakhti, Azam; Moghimi, Hamid; Bozorg, Ali; Stankovic, Srdjan; Manafi, Zahra; Schippers, Axel.
Affiliation
  • Bakhti A; Department of Microbial Biotechnology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran; Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Hannover, Germany.
  • Moghimi H; Department of Microbial Biotechnology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: hmoghimi@ut.ac.ir.
  • Bozorg A; Department of Biotechnology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
  • Stankovic S; Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Hannover, Germany.
  • Manafi Z; National Iranian Copper Industries Company, Kerman, Iran.
  • Schippers A; Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Hannover, Germany. Electronic address: axel.schippers@bgr.de.
Chemosphere ; 349: 140945, 2024 Feb.
Article in En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38104736
ABSTRACT
Chalcopyrite is the most abundant Cu-sulfide and economically the most important copper mineral in the world. It is known to be recalcitrant in hydrometallurgical processing and therefore chalcopyrite bioleaching has been thoroughly studied for improvement of processing. In this study, the microbial diversity in 22 samples from the Sarcheshmeh copper mine in Iran was investigated via 16S rRNA gene sequencing. In total, 1063 species were recognized after metagenomic analysis including the ferrous iron- and sulfur-oxidizing acidophilic genera Acidithiobacillus, Leptospirillum, Sulfobacillus and Ferroplasma. Mesophilic as well as moderately thermophilic acidophilic ferrous iron- and sulfur-oxidizing microorganisms were enriched from these samples and bioleaching was studied in shake flask experiments using a chalcopyrite-containing ore sample from the same mine. These enrichment cultures were further used as inoculum for bioleaching experiments in percolation columns for simulating heap bioleaching. Addition of 100 mM NaCl to the bioleaching medium was assessed to improve the dissolution rate of chalcopyrite. For comparison, bioleaching in stirred tank reactors with a defined microbial consortium was carried out as well. While just maximal 32% copper could be extracted in the flask bioleaching experiments, 73% and 76% of copper recovery was recorded after 30 and 10 days bioleaching in columns and bioreactors, respectively. Based on the results, both, the application of moderately thermophilic acidophilic bacteria in stirred tank bioreactors, and natural enrichment cultures of mesoacidophiles, with addition of 100 mM NaCl in column percolators with agglomerated ore allowed for a robust chalcopyrite dissolution and copper recovery from Sarcheshmeh copper ore via bioleaching.
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Full text: 1 Collection: 01-internacional Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Copper / Microbiota Language: En Journal: Chemosphere Year: 2024 Document type: Article Affiliation country: Country of publication:

Full text: 1 Collection: 01-internacional Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Copper / Microbiota Language: En Journal: Chemosphere Year: 2024 Document type: Article Affiliation country: Country of publication: