Biolixiviación de mineral cuarzo por <em>Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans</em> en reactor de columna por gravedad

Ronald Huarachi-Olivera; Alex Dueñas-Gonza; Ursulo Yapo; Moisés Almanza; Dennys Manuel; Antonio Lazarte-Rivera; Gelbert Mogrovejo-Medina; Homar Taco-Cervantes; Mario Esparza

doi:10.3989/revmetalm.096

Authors

Ronald Huarachi-Olivera Universidad de Antofagasta, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Recursos Biológicos, Departamento de Biotecnología, Laboratorio de Biominería - Universidad Nacional de San Agustín (UNSA), Escuela Profesional de Biología, Laboratorio de Microbiología y Biotecnología https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3504-3399
Alex Dueñas-Gonza Universidad Nacional de San Agustín (UNSA), Escuela Profesional de Biología, Laboratorio de Microbiología y Biotecnología https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6506-9138
Ursulo Yapo Universidad Nacional de San Agustín (UNSA), Escuela Profesional de Biología, Laboratorio de Microbiología y Biotecnología https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5863-129X
Moisés Almanza Universidad Nacional de San Agustín (UNSA), Escuela Profesional de Biología, Laboratorio de Microbiología y Biotecnología https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7223-7590
Dennys Manuel Universidad Nacional de San Agustín (UNSA), Escuela Profesional de Biología, Laboratorio de Microbiología y Biotecnología https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5186-4963
Antonio Lazarte-Rivera Universidad Nacional de San Agustín (UNSA), Escuela Profesional de Biología, Laboratorio de Microbiología y Biotecnología https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9333-0505
Gelbert Mogrovejo-Medina Universidad Nacional de San Agustín (UNSA), Laboratorio de Concentración de Minerales https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2978-6433
Homar Taco-Cervantes Universidad Nacional de San Agustín (UNSA), Laboratorio de Concentración de Minerales https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0912-749X
Mario Esparza Universidad de Antofagasta, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Recursos Biológicos, Departamento de Biotecnología, Laboratorio de Biominería https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3604-6054

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3989/revmetalm.096

Keywords:

Bioleaching, Cuprite, Leaching, Pyrite, Quartz

Abstract

Bioleaching is the process by which copper is extracted from low-sulfur minerals using microorganisms. However, chemical leaching is preferably applied to extract copper from oxidized or mixed minerals, without reports of application of microorganisms in this operation. In this work, we investigated the presence of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans in 9K medium and quartz mineral, with quartz sandstone, cuprite and pyrite at different particle sizes. It was found that at 24 days of the chemical leaching process 86% of copper was recovered when bacteria were included and only 54% recovered without them. The highest copper recovery in both processes was obtained in the following order according to the particle size: 9.5 mm > 12.5 mm > 19.05 mm. The application of bacterial cells to chemical leaching processes with oxidized copper minerals including quartz and A. ferrooxidans cells increases copper recovery while the mineral particle size is lower. This technology may be used for mining companies that are still performing chemical leaching and may include in the operation the addition of microorganisms to increase copper recovery from mineral sulfides including quartz.

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