Details:

Personal Author:
Madsen, B. W. (Brent W.) ; Groves, R. D. (Rees D.)
Madsen, B. W. (Brent W.) ; Groves, R. D. (Rees D.) Less -
Corporate Authors:
United States. Bureau of Mines
Description:
"The Bureau of Mines conducted a large-scale (6.4 T), long-term (2,165 days) test to gain a better understanding of the leaching characteristics of chalcopyritic ores. An ore sample containing 0.77 pct cu was leached in a fiberglass column by downward percolation of acidified ferric sulfate solutions. Three sets of leaching conditions were investigated: (1) ambient temperature leaching, (2) elevated temperature (50 deg to 60 deg c) leaching, and (3) elevated temperature leaching after inoculation with thermophilic bacteria. Leaching at ambient temperature resulted in a copper extraction rate of 0.44 pct per 100 days. Increasing the temperature to 50 deg to 60 deg c resulted in decreased activity of natural mesophilic bacteria, and the leaching rate decreased to 0.22 pct per 100 days. The ph was lowered from 2.0 to 1.6, and nutrient solutions that contained thermophilic bacteria were added. This procedure resulted in an increase in the ferric-to-ferrous iron ratio and an increase in the copper leaching rate. However, the increased leaching rate was not sustained, and 120 days after inoculation, the bacterial activity declined, the ferrous iron content increased, and the copper leaching rate decreased." - NIOSHTIC-2

NIOSHTIC no. 10003222


Subject:
[+]
Bacterial Leaching.
Chalcopyrite.
Copper -- Metallurgy.

Series:
Report of investigations (United States. Bureau of Mines) ; 8827
Document Type:
Report
Collection(s):
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:a9a43ea21c62d8b1f96e4424c6156fd9e6c41cbc7e43d97bd45ac017d996ed36
File Type:

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