Anaerobic Growth of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans on Pyrite

Abstract:

In the bioleaching of mineral sulphides under the catalytic action of At. ferrooxidans, ferrous ion oxidation and sulfides/sulfur solubilization uses oxygen as the final electron acceptor. Also, under anaerobic conditions, At. ferrooxidans can alternatively catalize the oxidation of sulfur or reduced inorganic sulfur compounds (RISC) using ferric iron as electron acceptor [1]. The formation of Fe (II) from pyrite and covellite in the ferric anaerobic bioleaching with A. ferrooxidans, has been studied and well documented [2,3]. The requirements of ferric iron as electron acceptor for the anaerobic growth of At. ferrooxidans on elemental sulfur has been demonstrated and a linear relationship was obtained between the concentration of ferrous iron accumulated in the cultures and the increase in cell density [4]. It has been suggested a possible role in the solubilization of metals from sulfide ores involving the participation of the enzyme sulfur (sulfide): Fe (III) oxidoreductase [5]. Bacterial growth of At. ferrooxidans has also been reported in the oxidative anaerobic respiration using hydrogen as electron donor and ferric iron as electron acceptor [6]. Anaerobic reduction of ferric iron and ferrous iron production from pyrite by At. ferrooxidans has been demonstrated [2], however there are no reports about bacterial growth using this mineral. In this work, we studied the anaerobic bioleaching of pyrite with the aim to determine if At. ferrooxidans is capable to anaerobic growth on pyrite using ferric iron as electron acceptor.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volume 825)
• Pages: 96-99
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.825.96
• Online since: October 2013
• Authors: Blanca Escobar, Tomas Vargas
• Keywords: Anaerobic Growth, At. ferrooxidans, Bioleaching, Pyrite

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