Bioleaching of cobalt from sulfide mining tailings; a mini-pilot study

Jarno Mäkinen; Marja Salo; Mohammad Khoshkhoo; Jan Eric Sundkvist; Päivi Kinnunen

doi:10.1016/j.hydromet.2020.105418

Bioleaching of cobalt from sulfide mining tailings; a mini-pilot study

Jarno Mäkinen (Corresponding Author), Marja Salo, Mohammad Khoshkhoo, Jan Eric Sundkvist, Päivi Kinnunen

BA5203 Metals and materials recovery

Boliden Mineral AB

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

52 Citations (Scopus)

315 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Tailings are remaining processing waste streams from mines, disposed after valuable minerals extraction from the mined ore. Tailings contain varying concentrations of residual valuable metals that are currently lost due to lack of economical treatment possibilities. With sulfide containing tailings there is also a risk of acid rock drainage. In this study, iron- and sulfur-oxidizing microorganisms were utilized in bioleaching to treat pyrite-rich tailings to liberate mainly cobalt, alongside with other valuable metals. After adaptation of the microbial culture and batch bioleaching tests, the continuous-batch mode mini-pilot protocol was applied in 10 L stirred tank reactors (30 °C, 100 g/L solid content), reaching high leaching yields for the target metals (Co 87%, Zn 100%, Ni 67%, Cu 43%) in approximately 10 days retention time. The results show potential to turn challenging tailing streams into secondary resource for valuable metals.

Original language	English
Article number	105418
Number of pages	6
Journal	Hydrometallurgy
Volume	196
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hydromet.2020.105418
Publication status	Published - Sept 2020
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

This work was supported by the Academy of Finland project EcoTail “Valorization of Tailings for Circular Economy” [Decision number 306079]; and European Commission Horizon 2020 project NEMO “Near-zero-waste recycling of low-grade sulphidic mining waste for critical-metal, mineral and construction raw-material production in a circular economy” [Grant Agreement number 776846].

Keywords

Bioleaching
Cobalt
Pyrite
Tailings

Access to Document

10.1016/j.hydromet.2020.105418Licence: CC BY

j.hydromet.2020.105418Final published version, 785 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Bioleaching of cobalt from sulfide mining tailings; a mini-pilot study",

abstract = "Tailings are remaining processing waste streams from mines, disposed after valuable minerals extraction from the mined ore. Tailings contain varying concentrations of residual valuable metals that are currently lost due to lack of economical treatment possibilities. With sulfide containing tailings there is also a risk of acid rock drainage. In this study, iron- and sulfur-oxidizing microorganisms were utilized in bioleaching to treat pyrite-rich tailings to liberate mainly cobalt, alongside with other valuable metals. After adaptation of the microbial culture and batch bioleaching tests, the continuous-batch mode mini-pilot protocol was applied in 10 L stirred tank reactors (30 °C, 100 g/L solid content), reaching high leaching yields for the target metals (Co 87%, Zn 100%, Ni 67%, Cu 43%) in approximately 10 days retention time. The results show potential to turn challenging tailing streams into secondary resource for valuable metals.",

keywords = "Bioleaching, Cobalt, Pyrite, Tailings",

author = "Jarno M{\"a}kinen and Marja Salo and Mohammad Khoshkhoo and Sundkvist, {Jan Eric} and P{\"a}ivi Kinnunen",

year = "2020",

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AU - Mäkinen, Jarno

AU - Salo, Marja

AU - Khoshkhoo, Mohammad

AU - Sundkvist, Jan Eric

AU - Kinnunen, Päivi

PY - 2020/9

Y1 - 2020/9

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AB - Tailings are remaining processing waste streams from mines, disposed after valuable minerals extraction from the mined ore. Tailings contain varying concentrations of residual valuable metals that are currently lost due to lack of economical treatment possibilities. With sulfide containing tailings there is also a risk of acid rock drainage. In this study, iron- and sulfur-oxidizing microorganisms were utilized in bioleaching to treat pyrite-rich tailings to liberate mainly cobalt, alongside with other valuable metals. After adaptation of the microbial culture and batch bioleaching tests, the continuous-batch mode mini-pilot protocol was applied in 10 L stirred tank reactors (30 °C, 100 g/L solid content), reaching high leaching yields for the target metals (Co 87%, Zn 100%, Ni 67%, Cu 43%) in approximately 10 days retention time. The results show potential to turn challenging tailing streams into secondary resource for valuable metals.

KW - Bioleaching

KW - Cobalt

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Bioleaching of cobalt from sulfide mining tailings; a mini-pilot study

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

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NEMO: Near-Zero-Waste Recycling of Low-Grade Sulphidic Mining Waste for Critical-Metal, Mineral, and Construction Raw-Material Production in a Circular Economy

Cite this

Bioleaching of cobalt from sulfide mining tailings; a mini-pilot study

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

NEMO: Near-Zero-Waste Recycling of Low-Grade Sulphidic Mining Waste for Critical-Metal, Mineral, and Construction Raw-Material Production in a Circular Economy

Cite this