Linking leach chemistry and microbiology of low-grade copper ore bioleaching at different temperatures

The effects of temperature on chalcocite/pyrite oxidation and the microbial population in the bioleaching columns of a low-grade chalcocite ore were investigated in this study. Raffinate from the industrial bioleaching heap was used as an irrigation solution for columns operated at 20, 30, 45, and 60℃. The dissolution of copper and iron were investigated during the bioleaching processes, and the microbial community was revealed by using a high-throughput sequencing method. The genera of Ferroplasma, Acidithiobacillus, Leptospirillum, Acidiplasma, and Sulfobacillus dominated the microbial community, and the column at a higher temperature favored the growth of moderate thermophiles. Even though microbial abundance and activity were highest at 30℃, the column at a higher temperature achieved a much higher Cu leaching efficiency and recovery, which suggested that the promotion of chemical oxidation by elevated temperature dominated the dissolution of Cu. The highest pyrite oxidation percentage was detected at 45℃. Higher temperature resulted in precipitation of jarosite in columns, especially at 60℃. The results gave implications to the optimization of heap bioleaching of secondary copper sulfide in both enhanced chalcocite leaching and acid/iron balance, from the perspective of leaching temperature and affected microbial community and activity.

Pyrite oxidation in column at controlled redox potential of 900 mV with and without bacteria

Comparisons on the bioleaching and sterile oxidation of pyrite were performed at controlled redox potential of 900 mV(vs.SHE) and different temperatures of 30 and 60℃.For sterile experiments,the redox potential of irrigation solution was controlled by adding hydrogen peroxide solution(15 wt%),while the redox potential of irrigation solution for bioleaching was elevated by flowing through the packed bed in which bacteria were activated and colonized.The rate of pyrite bioleaching is faster than that of sterile oxidation at temperature of 30℃.The reason is that the potential gradient of leaching solution in bioleaching column is much smaller than that in sterile column.The redox potentials of irrigation solution and leaching solution are similar for bioleaching;however,the redox potential difference of irrigation solution and leaching solution for sterile oxidation is about 150 mV.When temperature increases to 60℃ for sterile oxidation,the rate of pyrite leaching is faster than that of bioleaching at temperature of 30℃,even though the redox potential gradient of leaching solution is great.The mineralogy analyses of pyrite residue were performed by scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive spectroscopy(SEM-EDS),X-ray diffraction(XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) analyses.The results confirm that pyrite oxidation might only occur at specific sites with high surface energy on surface and obeys the "indirect mechanism" whether there are bacteria or not.The pyrite oxidation rate is not inhibited by inert sulfur on residue surface at elevated redox potential.According to the conclusions,the way to accelerate pyrite oxidation is proposed.