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Minerals
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Bio-recovery of Copper, Lead and Zinc
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Bio-recovery of Copper, Lead and Zinc

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (26 March 2021) | Viewed by 14504

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Francisco C. Mora

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Seville, 41004 Sevilla, Spain

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Biomining is a generic term that include several processes to treat sulphide ores and concentrates using microorganisms, that can be an alternative to traditional routes (froth flotation + smelting). Nowadays, biomining is commercially applied to treat refractory gold ores and marginal ores. However, the biorecovery of copper, zinc and lead from polymetallic ores and mining waste are missed. In this framework, biomining is a promising alternative, especially to recover target metals from polymetallic and low-grade ores, and from mining waste. Nevertheless, there is a crucial need for research new processes in order to extract and purify copper, zinc and lead through biological techniques. This Special Issue aims to bring together corresponding works of biorecovery of copper, zinc and lead, from bioleaching and biooxidation studies to novel concentration and purification methods, from bioleaching liquors (copper and zinc) and biooxidised ores (lead). We welcome works where different stages of biorecovery of these metals have been studied (bioleaching, biooxidation, precipitation processes, solvent extraction, …), as well as, microbiological, kinetics and characterisation studies. We hope that this Special Issue will contribute to the understanding of these processes and the development of novel approaches in this framework.

Prof. Dr. Francisco C. Mora
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • copper, lead and zinc biorecovery
  • polymetallic sulphides
  • bioleaching
  • biooxidation
  • purification and concentration of bioleching solutions
  • biohydrometallurgy

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 4099 KiB  
Article
Metal Extraction and Recovery from Mobile Phone PCBs by a Combination of Bioleaching and Precipitation Processes
by Arrate Santaolalla, Piet N. L. Lens, Astrid Barona, Naiara Rojo, Ainhoa Ocio and Gorka Gallastegui
Minerals 2021, 11(9), 1004; https://doi.org/10.3390/min11091004 - 15 Sep 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3555
Abstract
Bearing in mind the metal rich composition of printed circuit boards (PCBs), this material represents a secondary source of valuable metals and offers an entrepreneurial opportunity in the metal sales market. Based on the ability of microorganisms to regenerate and produce the chemical [...] Read more.
Bearing in mind the metal rich composition of printed circuit boards (PCBs), this material represents a secondary source of valuable metals and offers an entrepreneurial opportunity in the metal sales market. Based on the ability of microorganisms to regenerate and produce the chemical oxidants that are responsible for metal leaching, bioleaching has become an efficient and affordable alternative to conventional metal recycling technologies, although further research is still necessary before industrial implementation. This study focuses on the recovery of metals contained in mobile phone PCBs through a combined process. Two different PCB pre-treatments were evaluated: grinding the whole piece and removing the epoxy cover from the piece without grinding. The benefit of A. ferrooxidans activity on the metal solubilization rate was analyzed. Additional chemical leaching assays were also conducted for comparison purposes and the reagents ferric iron (Fe3+) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4) were selected for these experiments. The copper extraction results obtained in Fe3+ experiments with and without bacteria (A. ferrooxidans) were similar after 260 h of operation, indicating the need for alternative strategies to ensure a controlled and continuous metal biodissolution rate. The contribution of H2SO4 to the leaching processes for copper and nickel was almost negligible during the first 50 h, and more significant thereafter. The recovered metals were precipitated from a synthetic solution simulating a real ferric leaching by adding sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and sodium sulfide (Na2S). The combination of both precipitants allowed an effective removal of metals from the leachate. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-recovery of Copper, Lead and Zinc)
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13 pages, 3985 KiB  
Article
Carbon-Assisted Bioleaching of Chalcopyrite and Three Chalcopyrite/Enargite-Bearing Complex Concentrates
by Keishi Oyama, Kyohei Takamatsu, Kaito Hayashi, Yuji Aoki, Shigeto Kuroiwa, Tsuyoshi Hirajima and Naoko Okibe
Minerals 2021, 11(4), 432; https://doi.org/10.3390/min11040432 - 19 Apr 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2324
Abstract
Overcoming the slow-leaching kinetics of refractory primary copper sulfides is crucial to secure future copper sources. Here, the effect of carbon was investigated as a catalyst for a bioleaching reaction. First, the mechanism of carbon-assisted bioleaching was elucidated using the model chalcopyrite mineral, [...] Read more.
Overcoming the slow-leaching kinetics of refractory primary copper sulfides is crucial to secure future copper sources. Here, the effect of carbon was investigated as a catalyst for a bioleaching reaction. First, the mechanism of carbon-assisted bioleaching was elucidated using the model chalcopyrite mineral, under specified low-redox potentials, by considering the concept of Enormal. The carbon catalyst effectively controlled the Eh level in bioleaching liquors, which would otherwise exceed its optimal range (0 ≤ Enormal ≤ 1) due to active regeneration of Fe3+ by microbes. Additionally, Enormal of ~0.3 was shown to maximize the carbon-assisted bioleaching of the model chalcopyrite mineral. Secondly, carbon-assisted bioleaching was tested for three types of chalcopyrite/enargite-bearing complex concentrates. A trend was found that the optimal Eh level for a maximum Cu solubilization increases in response to the decreasing chalcopyrite/enargite ratio in the concentrate: When chalcopyrite dominates over enargite, the optimal Eh was found to satisfy 0 ≤ Enormal ≤ 1. As enargite becomes more abundant than chalcopyrite, the optimal Eh for the greatest Cu dissolution was shifted to higher values. Overall, modifying the Eh level by adjusting AC doses to maximize Cu solubilization from the concentrate of complex mineralogy was shown to be useful. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-recovery of Copper, Lead and Zinc)
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14 pages, 3761 KiB  
Article
A Column Leaching Model of Low-Grade Chalcopyrite Ore: Mineral Preferences and Chemical Reactivity
by Heike Bostelmann and Gordon Southam
Minerals 2020, 10(12), 1132; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10121132 - 17 Dec 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1784
Abstract
Bioleaching models to examine copper extraction from low-grade chalcopyrite ores were set up to identify the influence of pyrite on leaching efficacy. A combination of scanning electron microscopy and geochemical analysis showed that extraction was marginally enhanced by the addition of pyrite when [...] Read more.
Bioleaching models to examine copper extraction from low-grade chalcopyrite ores were set up to identify the influence of pyrite on leaching efficacy. A combination of scanning electron microscopy and geochemical analysis showed that extraction was marginally enhanced by the addition of pyrite when using a combination of Leptospirillum ferrooxidans, an iron oxidiser, Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, a sulphur oxidising species and Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, an iron and sulphur oxidiser. Extensive biofilms formed on the pyrite surfaces (>106 cells/mm2) but were severely limited on chalcopyrite, possessing approximately the same number of cells as quartz grains, an internal non-nutrient control “substrate” (with ca. 2 × 103 cells/mm2). The presence of dissolved copper did not inhibit the growth of this consortium. Indirect “bioleaching” of chalcopyrite appears to be limited by proton activity at the chalcopyrite surface. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-recovery of Copper, Lead and Zinc)
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26 pages, 6686 KiB  
Article
Bioleaching of Iron, Copper, Lead, and Zinc from the Sludge Mining Sediment at Different Particle Sizes, pH, and Pulp Density Using Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans
by Dana Rouchalova, Kamila Rouchalova, Iva Janakova, Vladimir Cablik and Sarah Janstova
Minerals 2020, 10(11), 1013; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10111013 - 13 Nov 2020
Cited by 38 | Viewed by 5993
Abstract
Globally, the amounts of metal ore deposits have been declining, so the research directions investigating the extraction of metals from materials that are classified as waste are gaining more importance every year. High concentrations of Cu, Pb, Zn, and Fe were analyzed in [...] Read more.
Globally, the amounts of metal ore deposits have been declining, so the research directions investigating the extraction of metals from materials that are classified as waste are gaining more importance every year. High concentrations of Cu, Pb, Zn, and Fe were analyzed in the sludge sediment (Zlaté Hory, Czech Republic), which is a waste product of the mining industry. In the bioleaching process, bacterial cells have been established as being able to convert metals from solid to liquid phase. However, the most important parameters of bioleaching are particle size, pH, and pulp density, thus our research focused on their optimization. The acidophilic and mesophilic bacteria Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans were applied due to the high Fe content in the sample. The recovery of metals in the leachate was determined by F-AAS and the residual metal concentrations in the waste fraction were analyzed by XRF. The grain size fractions <40 µm –200 µm were investigated. The atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) results show that the highest Fe (76.48%), Cu (82.01%), and Pb (88.90%) recoveries were obtained at particle size of 71–100 μm. Zn was dissolved for all fractions above 90%. Experiments with different pH values were performed at a pH of 1.6–2.0. The highest dissolution rates of Zn, Fe, and Cu were achieved with a suspension pH of 1.8, where 98.73% of Zn, 85.42% of Fe, and 96.44% of Cu were recovered. Due to the high percentage dissolution of metals, experiments were performed under pilot conditions in a bioreactor at a pulp density of 2.5% and 4.2% (w/v). From an economic point of view, the leaching time of 28 days was evaluated as sufficient. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-recovery of Copper, Lead and Zinc)
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