Abstract
The high level of fluorine and low sulfur in the ore could significantly undermine the bioleaching effectiveness. Here, a strategy to improve the bioleaching efficiency by introducing fluoride-resistant mesophilic eosinophils coupled with pyrite supplement was investigated in a bioleaching system with such ore. The results of column and heap bioleaching showed that 89.25% and 90.40% of uranium were recovered with the consortium and pyrite addition, which increased the uranium leaching rates by 13.22% and 8.96% as compared with the sulfuric acid leaching. Hence, it provides a method to improve uranium bioleaching efficiency of the high-fluorine and low-sulfur uranium ore by the consortium adding pyrite.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (No. 2012AA061504) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41772266, 41662015, 41662024 and U1501231).
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Zhou, Z., Yang, Z., Sun, Z. et al. Enhanced uranium bioleaching high-fluorine and low-sulfur uranium ore by a mesophilic acidophilic bacterial consortium with pyrite. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 321, 711–722 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-019-06608-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-019-06608-4