ISSN:
1662-8985
Source:
Scientific.Net: Materials Science & Technology / Trans Tech Publications Archiv 1984-2008
Topics:
Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
Notes:
Two copper flotation tailings samples, one from the Almalyk Mining and MetallurgicalComplex, Uzbekistan (sample designated AMMC) and the other from Whitehorse (WT), Yukon,Canada, were bioleached at laboratory scale. Acidophilic, iron- and sulphur-oxidizing cultures wereenriched from the two tailings and these cultures were used for the testing. After 24 weeks ofbioleaching in percolator columns 70-72% of the copper was leached from the AMMC tailings and91-93% of the copper was leached from the WT tailings. The chalcopyritic nature of the copper andlarger particle size of the AMMC tailings compared to the WT tailings were likely reasons thatcopper extraction was greater for the AMMC tailings. In-column, thiosulphate leaching ofbiooxidized residues yielded 90+% gold extraction for both tailings. In other testing the twocultures were subjected to an electromagnetic field during growth on ferrous iron. Compared tountreated controls, cultures subjected to the electromagnetic field oxidized iron more rapidly.Although magnetite, which exerts an electromagnetic field, was present in the AMMC tailings,there was no evidence that this magnetite had any effect on the bioleaching results. However, giventhe enhanced performance of the iron-grown cultures under the influence of an electromagneticfield, we believe that additional research should be performed to investigate this phenomenon
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://www.tib-hannover.de/fulltexts/2011/0528/01/39/transtech_doi~10.4028%252Fwww.scientific.net%252FAMR.20-21.299.pdf
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