Abstract
The purpose of this study was to enhance the content of valuable metals, such as Au, Ag, and Te, in tellurium-bearing minerals via bioleaching. The ore samples composed of invisible Au and Au paragenesis minerals (such as pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and galena) in combination with tellurium-bearing minerals (hessite, sylvanite and Tellurobismuthite) were studied. Indigenous microbes from mine drainage were isolated and identified as Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, which were used in bioleaching after adaption to copper. The effect of the microbial adaption on the bioleaching performance was then compared with the results produced by the non-adaptive process. The microbial adaption enhanced the Au–Ag–Te contents in biological leaching of tellurium-bearing ore minerals. This suggests that bioleaching with adapted microbes can be used both as a pretreatment and in the main recovery processes of valuable metals.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 262-270 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | International Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2018 Mar 1 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This project was supported by Chosun University (2012).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, University of Science and Technology Beijing and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.
Keywords
- Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans
- Au–Ag–Te
- adaptation
- bioleaching
- tellurium-bearing mineral
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Mechanics of Materials
- Mechanical Engineering
- Geochemistry and Petrology
- Metals and Alloys
- Materials Chemistry