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Thermoacidophiles for Bioleaching of Copper

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Microbial Communities and their Interactions in the Extreme Environment

Part of the book series: Microorganisms for Sustainability ((MICRO,volume 32))

Abstract

Biohydrometallurgy is a modern, steadily developing alternative metal production technology based on the use of microorganisms and their metabolic products, such as ferric iron, sulfuric acid, etc. for the extraction of metals from ores. Microbiological processing of ores and concentrates has economic, technical and, most importantly, environmental advantages over traditional technologies. Heap leaching is successfully used for recovery of copper from a secondary mineral—chalcocite (Cu2S). However, the main world reserves of copper are found in the form of chalcopyrite (CuFeS2). Chalcopyrite is the most refractory mineral and undergoes chemical or biological oxidation at a very low rate. One of the most common ways to enhance copper extraction from chalcopyrite is the use of thermophiles. Besides, the intensity of biooxidation of sulfide minerals depends on the pH, redox potential, Fe2+/Fe3+ ratio, metals ion concentration and the microorganisms used. It was revealed that the mixed cultures and consortia of moderate thermophilic microorganisms were more efficient and stable in the oxidation of chalcopyrite than pure cultures. From this point of view, developing and optimizing microbial associations for use in commercial copper leaching systems remain an important challenge. In this paper bioleaching of chalcopyrite by pure and mixed cultures of moderate thermophilic bacteria S. thermosulfidooxidans and thermotolerant sulfur or iron oxidizing bacteria L. ferriphilum CC, as well as the influence of physicochemical factors on this process have been investigated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Metal Bioleaching, Institute of Microbiology of the Scientific and Production Center “Armbiotechnology” of National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia

    Narine Vardanyan & Arevik Vardanyan

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  1. Narine Vardanyan
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  2. Arevik Vardanyan
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Correspondence to Narine Vardanyan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Biology, National University of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

    Dilfuza Egamberdieva

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Nils-Kare Birkeland

  3. School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China

    Wen-Jun Li

  4. Faculty of Biology, Yerevan State University, Yerevan, Armenia

    Hovik Panosyan

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Vardanyan, N., Vardanyan, A. (2021). Thermoacidophiles for Bioleaching of Copper. In: Egamberdieva, D., Birkeland, NK., Li, WJ., Panosyan, H. (eds) Microbial Communities and their Interactions in the Extreme Environment. Microorganisms for Sustainability, vol 32. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3731-5_9

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