Continuous bioleaching of arsenopyrite from mine tailings using an adapted mesophilic microbial culture

Bioremediation techniques for the treatment of mine tailings: A review

“…Bioleaching occurs through direct incorporation of metals by microbes or through indirect mechanisms of initiation via the generation of byproducts that incorporates the metal (Chen and Lin, 2001). Bioleaching is typically preferred for the recovery of metals from low concentration or low grade ore where the conventional process is not economically viable (Wu and Ting, 2006;Ngoma et al, 2018;Borja et al, 2019). The bio-sorption phenomenon is accomplished by certain biomass with spatial orientation of the cells or the presence in the cell wall of functional groups which mediate binding of metal ions either metabolically or by means of physicochemical interaction on the surface of biomass influenced by the components or the spatial orientations (Kanamarlapudi et al, 2018).…”

A classical modelling of abandoned mine tailings' bioleaching by an autochthonous microbial culture

“…One of the most representative mining wastes are the mine tailings. The mine tailings are fine-grained minerals left-over after the extraction of the metals from the mineral ores, being its annual production about 7 billion tons (Borja et al, 2019).…”

“…The mixed microbial culture growing in acid mine drainage (AMD) is characterized by the presence of acidophilic bacteria, being the most representative species Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, Leptospirillum ferrooxidans and Leptospirillum ferriphilum (Borja et al, 2019). The ADM is generated when sulfidebearing material is exposed to oxygen and water (Akcil and Koldas, 2006).…”

“…The ADM is generated when sulfidebearing material is exposed to oxygen and water (Akcil and Koldas, 2006). This mining effluent is characterized by its low pH, high concentration of sulfates and toxic metals (Anawar, 2013), depending its final composition on the mineral ore characteristics and on the microbial culture performing the mineral oxidation (Borja et al, 2019).…”

Effects of Conventional Flotation Frothers on the Population of Mesophilic Microorganisms in Different Cultures

“…Moreover, the problem of global warming and environmental pollution has led the mineral processing industry to focus on the use of low-cost, low-energy, and environmentally friendly methods [4,[6][7][8][9][10]. Thus, several investigations have been focused on the operation and optimization of the bioleaching processes for the extraction of metals from low-grade deposits (by heap bioleaching [11,12]), waste (by columns [13,14]), and concentrates (by bioleaching tanks [13,15,16]) which considerably have lower costs and environment effects [11,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24].…”