Bioleaching

Rohwerder, Thore; Jozsa, Peter-Georg; Gehrke, T.; Sand, Wolfgang

doi:10.1002/0471263397.env082

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Bioleaching is increasingly used by the mining industry to extract metals from ore, mainly for gold recovery in huge tank bioreactors and for copper recovery in mining heaps (Ehrlich and Brierley, 1990;Rossi, 1990;Bosecker, 1997;Brierley and Rawlings, 1997;Brandl, 2001;Ehrlich, 2002;Rawlings, 2002;Rawlings et al, 2003;Rohwerder et al, 2002). Microbial catalyzed weathering of metal sulfi des in mine waste produces hazardous acid mine drainage (Colmer and Hinkle, 1947;Schippers et al, 1995;Schrenk et al, 1998;Edwards et al, 1999aEdwards et al, , 1999bEdwards et al, , 2000aEdwards et al, , 2000b.…”

Section: Oxic Biological Metal Sulfi De Oxidation At Low Phmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogeochemistry of metal sulfide oxidation in mining environments, sediments, and soils

Schippers¹

2004

Sulfur Biogeochemistry - Past and Present

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Metal sulfi de oxidation is the only major sulfate-generating biogeochemical process on Earth. It is a process of major environmental impact, causing acid rock drainage (ARD) or acid mine drainage (AMD), the development of acid sulfate soils, and aquifer contamination. Metal sulfi des are formed and oxidized in sediments. Metal sulfi de oxidation is also important for processing ores for metal recovery (e.g., in bioleaching applications).Chemical and biological processes interact in metal sulfi de oxidation, and metal sulfi des are oxidized via several inorganic sulfur compounds. The occurrence of inorganic sulfur compounds has been documented for different metal sulfi de-containing environments, as shown in Table 1. Schippers, A., 2004, Biogeochemistry of metal sulfi de oxidation in mining environments, sediments, and soils, in Amend, J.P., Edwards, K.ABSTRACT Metal sulfi de oxidation is an important process in the past and present global biogeochemical sulfur cycles. In this process, various sulfur compounds, namely elemental sulfur, polysulfi des, thiosulfate, polythionates, sulfi te, and sulfate, are generated in different environments. The formation of the sulfur compounds depends on the mineralogy of the metal sulfi de and the geochemical conditions in the environment, mainly the pH and the presence of different oxidants. Metal sulfi de oxidation can be described by two different pathways: the thiosulfate mechanism and the polysulfi de mechanism. Microorganisms play a crucial role in the oxidation of intermediate sulfur compounds, which are formed by the chemical dissolution of the metal sulfi des. Under oxic and acidic conditions (e.g., in sulfi dic mine waste or in acid sulfate soils), microorganisms oxidize Fe(II) to Fe(III), which serves as an oxidant for the metal sulfi des and for most of the intermediate sulfur compounds. Additionally, microorganisms may catalyze the oxidation of intermediate sulfur compounds to sulfate. Under oxic and pH-neutral conditions (e.g., in carbonate-buffered sulfi dic mine waste or at the surface of marine sediments) the metal sulfi des are chemically oxidized by molecular oxygen via a Fe(II)/Fe(III) shuttle to the metal (hydr)oxide, intermediate sulfur compounds, and sulfate. Microorganisms oxidize the intermediate sulfur compounds to sulfate and, at low partial pressure of molecular oxygen, may catalyze Fe(II) oxidation. Under anoxic and pH-neutral conditions (e.g., in marine sediments), metal sulfi des and intermediate sulfur compounds are oxidized either chemically by MnO 2 or by microorganisms using nitrate as an electron acceptor.

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Section: Oxic Biological Metal Sulfi De Oxidation At Low Phmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogeochemistry of metal sulfide oxidation in mining environments, sediments, and soils

Schippers¹

2004

Sulfur Biogeochemistry - Past and Present

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“…This oxidation is a bottleneck in the general sulfur cycle (Ehrlich, 2002) and is also an important reaction in biotechnological processes such as the biomining of base and precious metals (Rawlings, 2002;Rohwerder et al, 2002) or the desulfurization of waste waters (Lens & Hulshof Pol, 2000). The most prominent bacteria which catalyse the oxidation of inorganic sulfur compounds under acidic conditions (pH 1-3) and ambient temperatures (up to 45 uC) are Acidithiobacillus and Acidiphilium spp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The sulfane sulfur of persulfides is the actual substrate of the sulfur-oxidizing enzymes from Acidithiobacillus and Acidiphilium spp.

2003

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The sulfane sulfur of persulfides is the actual substrate of the sulfur-oxidizing enzymes from Acidithiobacillus and Acidiphilium spp. To identify the actual substrate of the glutathione-dependent sulfur dioxygenase (EC 1.13.11.18) elemental sulfur oxidation of the meso-acidophilic Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans strains DSM 504 and K6, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans strain R1 and Acidiphilium acidophilum DSM 700 was analysed. Extraordinarily high specific sulfur dioxygenase activities up to 460 nmol min "1 (mg protein) "1 were found in crude extracts. All cell-free systems oxidized elemental sulfur only via glutathione persulfide (GSSH), a non-enzymic reaction product from glutathione (GSH) and elemental sulfur. Thus, GSH plays a catalytic role in elemental sulfur activation, but is not consumed during enzymic sulfane sulfur oxidation. Sulfite is the first product of sulfur dioxygenase activity; it further reacted non-enzymically to sulfate, thiosulfate or glutathione S-sulfonate (GSSO { 3 ). Free sulfide was not oxidized by the sulfur dioxygenase. Persulfide as sulfur donor could not be replaced by other sulfane-sulfur-containing compounds (thiosulfate, polythionates, bisorganylpolysulfanes or monoarylthiosulfonates). The oxidation of H 2 S by the dioxygenase required GSSG, i.e. the disulfide of GSH, which reacted non-enzymically with sulfide to give GSSH prior to enzymic oxidation. On the basis of these results and previous findings a biochemical model for elemental sulfur and sulfide oxidation in Acidithiobacillus and Acidiphilium spp. is proposed.

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“…In case of metal sulfides, the metal recovery is based on the action of aerobic, extremely acidophilic iron(II)-and sulfur compound-oxidizing bacteria and archaea (31,36). By employing these prokaryotes, bioleaching has become an established biotechnological method for the mining of heavy metals such as copper, zinc, cobalt, and gold (31,33). The same microbial activity, on the other hand, is responsible for the formation of acidic, heavy metal-contaminated waters in natural or anthropogenic leaching biotopes, which are generally termed acid mine drainage (AMD) or acid rock drainage (29).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Combination of Atomic Force Microscopy and Epifluorescence Microscopy for Visualization of Leaching Bacteria on Pyrite

Mangold

Harneit

Rohwerder

et al. 2008

Appl Environ Microbiol

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Bioleaching of metal sulfides is an interfacial process comprising the interactions of attached bacterial cells and bacterial extracellular polymeric substances with the surface of a mineral sulfide. Such processes and the associated biofilms can be investigated at high spatial resolution using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Therefore, we visualized biofilms of the meso-acidophilic leaching bacterium Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans strain A2 on the metal sulfide pyrite with a newly developed combination of AFM with epifluorescence microscopy (EFM). This novel system allowed the imaging of the same sample location with both instruments. The pyrite sample, as fixed on a shuttle stage, was transferred between AFM and EFM devices. By staining the bacterial DNA with a specific fluorescence dye, bacterial cells were labeled and could easily be distinguished from other topographic features occurring in the AFM image. AFM scanning in liquid caused deformation and detachment of cells, but scanning in air had no effect on cell integrity. In summary, we successfully demonstrate that the new microscopic system was applicable for visualizing bioleaching samples. Moreover, the combination of AFM and EFM in general seems to be a powerful tool for investigations of biofilms on opaque materials and will help to advance our knowledge of biological interfacial processes. In principle, the shuttle stage can be transferred to additional instruments, and combinations of AFM and EFM with other surface-analyzing devices can be proposed.

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Bioleaching

Abstract: Minerals Microorganisms Mechanisms of Microbiological Metal Sulfide Dissolution Applications Environmental Problems Connected with Bioleaching

Cited by 6 publications

References 49 publications

Biogeochemistry of metal sulfide oxidation in mining environments, sediments, and soils

Biogeochemistry of metal sulfide oxidation in mining environments, sediments, and soils

The sulfane sulfur of persulfides is the actual substrate of the sulfur-oxidizing enzymes from Acidithiobacillus and Acidiphilium spp.

Novel Combination of Atomic Force Microscopy and Epifluorescence Microscopy for Visualization of Leaching Bacteria on Pyrite

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