Biodissolution of pyrite and bornite by moderate thermophiles

Abstract

Acid mine drainage (AMD) has become a widespread environmental issue and its toxicity can cause permanent damage to the ecosystem. However, there are few studies focusing on the formation of AMD under moderately thermophilic conditions, hence we employed X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and 16S rRNA sequencing to study the dissolution of pyrite and bornite by a moderate thermophilic consortium, and explored the role of free and attached microorganisms in the formation of AMD. The consortium mainly comprised Acidithiobacillus caldus, Leptospirillum ferriphilum and Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans. The results indicated that total iron in pyrite solution system reached 33.45 g/L on the 12th day, and the copper dissolution rate of bornite dissolution reached 91.8% on the 24th day. SEM results indicated that the surfaces of pyrite and bornite were significantly corroded by microorganisms. XRD and XPS results showed that ore residues contained jarosite, and the dissolving residue of bornite contained elemental sulfur. The dominant bacterial genus in pyrite dissolution was A. caldus, and L. ferriphilum in bornite dissolution. To sum up, microbes significantly accelerated the mineral dissolution process and promoted the formation of AMD.

Keywords

pyrite / bornite / dissolution / moderate thermophiles / 16S rRNA / redundancy analysis

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