Effect of pH values on the extracellular polysaccharide secreted by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans during chalcopyrite bioleaching

The pH value plays an important role in the bioleaching of sulphide minerals. The effect of pH values on the extracellular poly-saccharide secreted by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans was investigated in different phases of bacterial growth during chalcopyrite bioleach-ing. It is found that extracellular polysaccharide secretion from the cells attached to chalcopyrite is more efficiently than that of the free cells in the bioleaching solution. Three factors, pH values, the concentration of soluble metal ions, and the bacterial growth and metabolism, affect extracellular polysaccharide secretion in the free cells, and are related to the bacterial growth phase. Extracellular polysaccharide secretion from the attached cells is mainly dependent on the pH value of the bacterial culture.

Effects of processing pH stimulation on cooperative bioleaching of chalcopyrite concentrate by free and attached cells

In order to investigate the effects of processing pH stimulation on bioleaching of chalcopyrite by moderate thermophiles,copper leaching rates and the dynamics of microbial community structures of free and attached cells were monitored. The results indicated that when the processing pH values were respectively adjusted to 1.0 and 3.0 on day 14, both free and attached cells experienced an adaptive phase. Meanwhile, the copper leaching rates were 86.9% and 64.0%,respectively, as opposed to a copper leaching rate of 87.5% in the control group without pH stimulation. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis suggested that pH stimulation imposed less impact on the attached organisms than on the free cells, indicating that the attached cells were more resistant to processing pH stimulation than the free cells. Furthermore, adjusting processing pH to 3.0 significantly disrupted both free and attached microbial communities, and the bioleaching system could not recover to the normal status as the control group.

Relationship among the secretion of extracellular polymeric substances, heat resistance, and bioleaching ability of Metallosphaera sedula

This paper describes the investigation of the secretion of extracellular polymeric substances(EPS)by an extremely thermoacidophilic archaea,Metallosphaera sedula(M.sedula),during the bioleaching of pyrite under different temperatures and discusses the relationship among the EPS secretion,its heat resistance,and its ability to bioleach pyrite.The investigation results indicate that the amount of extracellular proteins is significantly higher than the amount of extracellular polysaccharides in the extracted EPS whether free cells or attached cells;these results are quite different from the behavior of mesophilic Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans.Although the growth of M.sedula is inhibited at 80℃,the bioleaching ability of M.sedula is only slightly lower than that at the optimum growth temperature of 72℃ because of the heat resistance mechanism based on EPS secretion.The secretion of more extracellular proteins is an important heat resistance mechanism of M.sedula.