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Microbial leaching of lateritic nickel ore

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Abstract

Lateritic nickel ore from the Sukinda Mines, Orissa, India, was leached using Thiobacillus ferrooxidans, Bacillus circulans, Bacillus licheniformis and Aspergillus niger at 5% (w/v) solid: liquid ratio for 5–20 days. Maximum leaching of Ni was achieved with B. circulans (85%) and Aspergillus niger (92%) after 20 days. Bacillus circulans showed significantly higher rate of leaching than the other organisms giving 80% Ni extraction after 15 days. The importance and usefulness of heterotrophic organisms in metal extraction are discussed.

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Sukla, L.B., Panchanadikar, V.V. & Kar, R.N. Microbial leaching of lateritic nickel ore. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 9, 255–257 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00327850

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00327850

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