Silver-catalyzed bioleaching for raw low-grade copper sulphide ores

Abstract

This research was conducted to investigate the biooxidation and copper dissolution from raw low-grade refractory copper sulphide ores located in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China using adapted Thiobacillus ferrooxidans bacteria. In order to accelerate the bioleaching rate, the adapted mixed bacteria and silver ion catalyst were tested in the leach columns at laboratory scale. The overall acid consumption was 4.3 kg sulphuric acid per kg of dissolved copper and was linearly related to the percent copper dissolution. The calculated copper dissolution rates obey the Shrinking Core Model. The relative activation energy of the whole biooxidative leaching stages was calculated to be 48.58 kJ/mol.

The Catalytic Role of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans for Metals Extraction from Mining - Metallurgical Resource

“…Silver is an effective catalyst for bioleaching of copper from low- grade chalcopyrite ore. [124][125][126][127][128] The use of chelating agents (thiosulfate or thiosulfate plus cupric ions) does not influence the extraction yield of copper and iron. 125 Dissolution of copper in the initial phase of bioleaching is increased by addition of a silver chloride solution with respect to the case with silver sulfate.…”