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http://dx.doi.org/10.4014/jmb.1511.11031

Two-Step Oxidation of Refractory Gold Concentrates with Different Microbial Communities  

Wang, Guo-hua (School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University)
Xie, Jian-ping (School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University)
Li, Shou-peng (School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University)
Guo, Yu-jie (School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University)
Pan, Ying (School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University)
Wu, Haiyan (School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University)
Liu, Xin-xing (School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University)
Publication Information
Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology / v.26, no.11, 2016 , pp. 1871-1880 More about this Journal
Abstract
Bio-oxidation is an effective technology for treatment of refractory gold concentrates. However, the unsatisfactory oxidation rate and long residence time, which cause a lower cyanide leaching rate and gold recovery, are key factors that restrict the application of traditional bio-oxidation technology. In this study, the oxidation rate of refractory gold concentrates and the adaption of microorganisms were analyzed to evaluate a newly developed two-step pretreatment process, which includes a high temperature chemical oxidation step and a subsequent bio-oxidation step. The oxidation rate and recovery rate of gold were improved significantly after the two-step process. The results showed that the highest oxidation rate of sulfide sulfur could reach to 99.01 % with an extreme thermophile microbial community when the pulp density was 5%. Accordingly, the recovery rate of gold was elevated to 92.51%. Meanwhile, the results revealed that moderate thermophiles performed better than acidophilic mesophiles and extreme thermophiles, whose oxidation rates declined drastically when the pulp density was increased to 10% and 15%. The oxidation rates of sulfide sulfur with moderate thermophiles were 93.94% and 65.73% when the pulp density was increased to 10% and 15%, respectively. All these results indicated that the two-step pretreatment increased the oxidation rate of refractory gold concentrates and is a potential technology to pretreat the refractory sample. Meanwhile, owing to the sensitivity of the microbial community under different pulp density levels, the optimization of microbial community in bio-oxidation is necessary in industry.
Keywords
Bio-oxidation; mesophiles; moderate thermophiles; extreme thermophiles; two-step process;
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