School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, Hunan, PR China; Key Laboratory of Biometallurgy of Ministry of Education, Central South University, Changsha 410083, Hunan, PR China.
College of Life Sciences, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, Guangxi, PR China; Key Laboratory of Ecology of Rare and Endangered Species and Environmental Protection (Guangxi Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guilin 541004, Guangxi, PR China.
Sci Total Environ. 2024 Dec 1;954:176563. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176563. Epub 2024 Sep 27.
Heap bioleaching is one of the most promising technologies for extracting valuable metals from low-grade ores. However, the effects of permeability of the heap on microbial community and bioleaching efficiency remain unclear. In this study, heap bioleaching systems with different permeability were constructed. Despite the high content of larger particles had better permeability (0.25 cm/s) and oxygen transfer efficiency (0.14), there was a 25 % decrease in copper extraction compared with the moderate permeability group (81.2 %), while low permeability (0.025 cm/s) could cut the extraction in half (48.5 %). The fine profiles of microbial communities based on relatively and absolutely quantitative technologies suggested that permeability significantly affected microbial diversity, biomass, and composition. Microbial community evenness was crucial to improving extraction than biomass. Additionally, Thermoplasmatales except for Acidiplasma and Ferroplasma played vital roles in bioleaching. This study highlighted the delicate trade-off of particle size-mediated permeability for intensifying bioleaching efficiency of low-grade copper ores.
堆浸生物冶金是从低品位矿石中提取有价金属最有前途的技术之一。然而，堆的渗透性对微生物群落和生物浸出效率的影响仍不清楚。在这项研究中，构建了具有不同渗透性的堆浸生物冶金系统。尽管高含量的较大颗粒具有更好的渗透性（0.25 cm/s）和氧气传递效率（0.14），但与中等渗透性组（81.2%）相比，铜的提取率下降了 25%，而低渗透性（0.025 cm/s）则使提取率减半（48.5%）。基于相对和绝对定量技术的微生物群落精细图谱表明，渗透性显著影响微生物多样性、生物量和组成。微生物群落均匀度对于提高提取率比生物量更为关键。此外，除了嗜酸菌属和亚铁菌属外，泉古菌目在生物浸出中也起着至关重要的作用。本研究强调了粒径调节的渗透性对强化低品位铜矿石生物浸出效率的微妙权衡。
