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Thermophiles and Bioleaching

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Biomining

Part of the book series: Biotechnology Intelligence Unit ((BIOIU))

Abstract

Acidophilic microorganisms that oxidize iron and sulfur can be exposed to high temperatures in geothermal environments and in some heaps of ores and mine wastes. A variety of types with different optimum temperatures for growth are found across temperature gradients in the natural environments and may succeed one another as exothermic oxidation reactions increase the temperature in the industrial heaps. Most of the commercial, mineral-processing bioreactors are operated with mesophilic bacteria at about 40°C1 (see chapter 3). Approaching this temperature, however, activity of well-studied, mesophilic Proteobacteria such as Thiobacillus ferrooxidans and Thiobacillus thiooxidans can be exceeded by that of Thiobacillus caldus and Sulfobacillus species, which grow optimally at about 45°C. At the extremes of their temperature ranges for growth, these moderate thermophiles can grow in mixed cultures with mesophiles or with extreme thermophiles. One commercial bioreactor has been developed to utilize such organisms at 45°–50°C for extraction of gold from a pyrite/arsenopyrite concentrate2 (see chapter 4). Between 50° and 55°C, their growth becomes progressively restricted whereas that of the Sulfolobus-like archaea increases, with some strains active to at least 85°C. These most thermophilic acidophiles are usually associated with sulfurous hot springs3 but they have also been found in drainage of a copper mine4 and in self-heating heaps of waste from coal5 and uranium mining.6

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  1. Paul R. Norris
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, University of Cape Town, 7700, Rondebosch, South Africa

    Douglas E. Rawlings

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© 1997 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Norris, P.R. (1997). Thermophiles and Bioleaching. In: Rawlings, D.E. (eds) Biomining. Biotechnology Intelligence Unit. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-06111-4_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-06111-4_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-06113-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-06111-4

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