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Bioleaching of copper- and zinc-bearing ore using consortia of indigenous iron-oxidizing bacteria

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Abstract

Indigenous iron-oxidizing bacteria were isolated on modified selective 9KFe2+ medium from Baiyin copper mine stope, China. Three distinct acidophilic bacteria were isolated and identified by analyzing the sequences of 16S rRNA gene. Based on published sequences of 16S rRNA gene in the GenBank, a phylogenetic tree was constructed. The sequence of isolate WG101 showed 99% homology with Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans strain AS2. Isolate WG102 exhibited 98% similarity with Leptospirillum ferriphilum strain YSK. Similarly, isolate WG103 showed 98% similarity with Leptospirillum ferrooxidans strain L15. Furthermore, the biotechnological potential of these isolates in consortia form was evaluated to recover copper and zinc from their ore. Under optimized conditions, 77.68 ± 3.55% of copper and 70.58 ± 3.77% of zinc were dissolved. During the bioleaching process, analytical study of pH and oxidation–reduction potential fluctuations were monitored that reflected efficient activity of the bacterial consortia. The FTIR analysis confirmed the variation in bands after treatment with consortia. The impact of consortia on iron speciation within bioleached ore was analyzed using Mössbauer spectroscopy and clear changes in iron speciation was reported. The use of indigenous bacterial consortia is more efficient compared to pure inoculum. This study provided the basic essential conditions for further upscaling bioleaching application for metal extraction.

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Acknowledgements

This work was sponsored by CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship for international Ph.D. students to WS, partially by the Natural Science Foundation of China (41572352) and Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources, Gansu Province (SZDKFJJ20160601).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources, Gansu Province/Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources Research, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, People’s Republic of China

    Wasim Sajjad, Guodong Zheng, Xiangxian Ma & Wang Xu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Wasim Sajjad, Wang Xu & Suliman Khan

  3. Key Laboratory of Extreme Environmental Microbial Resources and Engineering, Gansu Province/Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, People’s Republic of China

    Gaosen Zhang

  4. The Key Laboratory of Aquatic Biodiversity and Conservation, Sciences, Institute of Hydrology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Wuhan, Hubei, 430072, People’s Republic of China

    Suliman Khan

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  1. Wasim Sajjad
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  2. Guodong Zheng
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  3. Gaosen Zhang
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  4. Xiangxian Ma
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  5. Wang Xu
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  6. Suliman Khan
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Correspondence to Guodong Zheng.

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Sajjad, W., Zheng, G., Zhang, G. et al. Bioleaching of copper- and zinc-bearing ore using consortia of indigenous iron-oxidizing bacteria. Extremophiles 22, 851–863 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-018-1042-7

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