A mixed culture of moderately thermophilic microorganisms was enriched from acid mine drainages(AMDs)samples collected from several sulphide mines in China,and the bioleaching of chalcopyrite was conducted both in shake flask and bioreactor.The results show that in the shake flask,the mixture can tolerate 50 g/L chalcopyrite after being acclimated to gradually increased concentrations of chalcopyrite.The copper extraction increases obviously in bioleaching of chalcopyrite with moderately thermophilic microorganisms supplemented with 0.4 g/L yeast extract at 180 r/min,74% copper can be extracted in the pulp of 50 g/L chalcopyrite after 20 d.Compared with copper extractions of mesophilic culture,unacclimated culture and acclimated culture without addition of yeast extract,that of accliniated culture with addition of yeast extract is increased by 53%,44% and 16%,respectively.In a completely stirred tank reactor,the mass fraction of copper and total iron extraction reach up to 81% and 56%,respectively.The results also indicate that it is necessary to add a large amount of acid to the pulp to extract copper from chalcopyrite effectively.
The process of bioleaching marmatite using moderately thermophilic bacteria was studied by comparing marmatite leaching performance of mesophiles and moderate thermophiles and valuating the effect of venting capacity as well as pulp density on marmatite leaching performance of moderate thermophiles. The results show that moderate thermophiles have more advantages over mesophilies in bioleaching marmatite at 45 ℃ and the pulp density of 50 g/L, and the zinc extraction efficiency reaches 93.1% in 20 d. Aeration agitation can improve the transfer of O2 and CO2 in solution and promote the growth of bacteria and therefore, enhance the leaching efficiency. Under the venting levels of 50, 200 and 800 mL/min, the zinc extraction efficiencies by moderate thermophiles are 57.8%, 92.5% and 96.0%, respectively. With the increase of pulp density, the total leaching amount of valuable metals increases, however, the extraction efficiency decreases due to many reasons, such as increasing shear force leading to poorly growth condition for bacteria, etc. The zinc extraction decreases remarkably to 58.9% while the pulp density mounts up 20%.
