Column Bioleaching of a Saline, Calcareous Copper Sulfide Ore
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“Deep in situ biomining”, widely considered to be a potentially environmentally-benign and cost effective biotechnology for extracting and recovering base metals from deep-buried base metal deposits, is being developed within the EU Horizon 2020 project “BioMOre”. Data are presented from non-aerated column experiments in which a saline, calcareous copper-rich ore (kupferschiefer) was subjected to a three-stage eaching protocol: (i) with water, to remove soluble salts; (ii) with sulfuric acid, to remove calcareous minerals and other acid-soluble salts; (iii) indirect bioleaching with a microbiologically-generated ferric iron lixiviant. Sequential leaching with water and acid removed ~85% of the chloride prior to bio-processing, while ~13% of the copper present in the ore was leached using sulfuric acid, and a further 39 - 59% by the lixiviant.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 7-11 |
Journal | Solid State Phenomena |
Volume | 262 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Aug 2017 |