Utilisation of Acidithiobacillus Ferrooxidans Bacteria for Bioleaching of Waste Materials from Silver-Bearing Ore Mining

Abstract

The extraction and processing of silver minerals produce significant amounts of waste, which poses environmental challenges due to their low metal content and the potential release of toxic elements. The study investigates the application of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (AF) bacteria to the bioleaching of these waste materials, with the aim of maximizing the recovery of iron, copper and arsenic. The objectives of the study include characterizing waste materials, optimizing the bioleaching process parameters and evaluating metal extraction efficiency. The samples were leached with additives (CuSO4 5H2O and AgNO3) to accelerate the kinetics of metal dissolution in solution and reduce the bacterial leaching time. The results showed that samples 1-2 and 2-2 containing additives had higher values of dissolved iron and copper in the leachate compared to samples 1-1 and 2-1 without additive application.