Behavior of Fe and S in bioleaching
of pentlandite
of pentlandite
(Institute of Chemical Metallurgy,The Chinese Academy of Science,
Beijing 100080,China)
Beijing 100080,China)
Abstract: The reaction behavior of Fe and S in bioleaching of pentlandite with Thiobacillus ferrooxidans was investigated. The results of leaching experiments and XRD pattern show that pentlandite can not be oxidized easily by 2.8g/L Fe3+ at 35℃,and H+<, /SUP> was released while Fe3+ precipitates to form jarosite.Bacteria oxidize the sulfide in the mineral to produce element sulfur, meanwhile, H+ in the solution is consumed and this process results in pH value increasing about 0.3 everyday in the solution,and this process is supported by SEM morphology and EDS patterns.
Key words: pentlandite;bioleaching;Fe;S