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Expanding Role of Microbiology in Metallurgical Processes
Expanding Role of Microbiology in Metallurgical Processes
METALLURGICAL PROCESSES
"For his extensive and pioneering contribution to the use and
understanding of biotechnology for metals recovery."
Recipient of the 2000 Milton E. Wadsworth Award
Introduction
The author has known Professor Wadsworth since the 1960s, when interest
in the application of microbial technology for metallurgical processes was
beginning its rapid rise. The development of bioleaching and mineral
biooxidation was advanced, in part, by Wadsworth's belief in the potential
for its application, as
Copper bioleaching
Early commercial applications of bioleach technology involved processing
submarginal-grade, copper- bearing, run-of- mine rock in dumps. Recent
applications of the technology use engineered bioleach heaps. Currently, all
of these operations are in the Southern Hemisphere. It is noteworthy that
the pioneering research and development work in North America was not
advanced to commercial application at home. Eleven copper bioheap leach
plants and one in situ bioleach operation have been commissioned since
1980 (Table 1) (Brierley, C.L., 1997; Brierley, J.A., and Brierley, C.L.,
1999). All of these operations are outside of North America. An excellent
example of a current commercial bioleach application is the Quebrada
Blanca operation in northern Chile (Schnell, 1997). This bioleach plant is
located on the Alti Plano at an elevation of 4,400 m (14,400 ft). This
operation has negated the criticism by some operators that the leaching
bacteria cannot function under the cold temperatures and low oxygen
partial pressure of high altitudes. At Quebrada Blanca 17.3 kt/d (19,000
stpd) of secondary copper ore are crushed to 100% passing 9 mm (0.35
in.), agglomerated with sulfuric acid and hot water and stacked to form 6to 6.5-m- (20- to 21-ft-) high heaps. Bacterial activity is facilitated by
aeration using an array of air lines installed beneath the heap and lowpressure fans. Bacterial process monitoring includes on-site measurements
of respiration as a measure of active biomass and sulfide oxidation (Lizama,
in press). The Quebrada Blanca bioleach process illustrates the successful
"evolution" of biohydrometallurgy in the mining industry. The plant design
at Quebrada Blanca and other similar operations incorporates the bacterial
requirements of the process. Research findings on improving bacterial
activity are now applied in commercial operations Data available for the
operating plants (Table 1) indicate that bioleaching is used to process 117.8
kt/d (129,160 stpd) of copper ore. Inclusion of dump-leach operations
would substantially increase this process rate. Bioleaching is now a
significant process for the recovery of copper. Bioleaching of copper from
chalcopyrite concentrate has been successfully demonstrated. Chalcopyrite
bioleaching is based on the use of thermophilic microorganisms, a process
disclosed in 1978 (Brierley, J.A., and Brierley, C.L., 1978). Recent studies
have expanded the knowledge for use of thermophiles to bioleach
chalcopyrite (Dew et al., 1999; Howard and Crundwell, 1999). This
bioleaching technology has now been developed to commercial pilot-plant
testing (Miller et al., 1999). Commercial bioprocessing of chalcopyrite
concentrates will soon be a reality.
Cobalt bioleaching
The first commercial plant for the bioleaching and recovery of cobalt was
commissioned in 1999. BRGM commercialized a bioleach process for cobalt
recovery for the Kasese Cobalt Co. in Uganda. A cobaltiferous pyrite
concentrate, grading 1.38% Co, was produced from the Kilembe Mine and
stockpiled during the last 30 years. The stockpile contains 1.1 Mt (1.2
million st), dry basis, containing about 80% pyrite. Bioleaching is conducted
in the largest stirred-tank reactors in operation using an inoculum of
mesophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria. Three 1,350 m3 (3.6 x 105 gal) primary
reactors and a single secondary reactor are used for bioleaching about 241
Complex microbiology
The predominant microbial system for research, process development and
commercial application has been the members of the genus
Acidithiobacillus-A. thiooxidans and especially A. ferrooxidans. It should be
noted that the genus Acidithiobacillus is a new name that now includes
some previous members of the genus Thiobacillus (Kelly and Wood, 2000).
Leptospirillum ferrooxidans is also included in the stable of useful
microorganisms. A recently described Acidithiobacillus caldus has also
readily been isolated from bioleach processes and, in some cases, may be
the predominant microbe for oxidation of sulfur (Rawlings, 1997) (Table 4).
Future process developments will and must include thermophilic
microorganisms that will have an increasingly important role in biooxidation
of minerals (Brierley, J.A., and Brierley, C.L., 1986; Norris, 1997) (Table 4).
Exothermic pyrite oxidation in bioleach and biooxidation heaps increases
internal temperatures to the 60 to 80 C (140 to 176 F) range,
necessitating the use of thermophilic microorganisms (Beck, 1967, Brierley,
J.A., 1978, Shutey-McCann et al., 1997). Thermophilic Archaea, Sulfolobus
species, Acidianus brierleyi and Metallosphaera sedula, which grow at 60 to
85 C (140 to 185 F), are particularly adept in bioleaching of copper from
the highly refractory chalcopyrite, as well as refractory sulfidic gold ores and
concentrates. Recent published reports reflect the growing interest in
fundamental
and
practical
application
studies
of
thermophilic
microorganisms for bioleaching (Brierley, J.A., 1997b; Dew et al., 1999;
Gomez et al., 1999; Gonzalez-Chavez et al., 1999; Howard and Crundwell,
1999; Konishi et al., 1999; Rivera-Santillan et al., 1999). An extremely
acidophilic Archaeon microbe, with the suggested name Ferroplasma
acidarmans, was discovered growing in acid mine drainage (Edwards et al.,
2000). This microbe grows in the range of pH 0 to 2.5 and catalyzes the
oxidation of sulfide minerals. Although its activity contributes to acid mine
drainage, the microbe has potential beneficial use for mineral biooxidation
for ore or concentrates with high sulfide content, resulting in the generation
of extremely acidic conditions. Better understanding of the fundamental role
of the microbes in the biooxidation of mineral sulfides will lead to improved
Acknowledgments
The author is grateful for being recognized by members of the SME Award
Committee. The author also thanks Newmont Mining for the opportunity to
advance the application of biohydrometallurgy and, especially, Newmont
Carlin, NV, operations' staff for bringing lab research to operational reality.
The authors colleagues in the field of biohydrometallurgy, in particular, wife
and partner Corale Brierley, have been instrumental in the authors
continuing education and understanding of this technology and in the
encouraging the authors R&D efforts.
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