Bioleaching of a Molybdenite Concentrate by Thermophilic Microorganisms in a New Relva-Rbal 1 Air Lift Bio-Reactor

摘要

In this paper bioleaching of molybdenite concentrate (MoS_2) with extreme thermophilic microorganisms at constant temperature (65°C) was studied using a new RELVA-RBAL1 bioreactor, designed at the Faculty of Chemistry of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The equipment keeps homogeneous medium creating physical, chemical and biological conditions that lead to optimal growth of microorganisms, improving its resistance and tolerance to molybdenum significantly, thus achieving high extraction. The RELVA-ARBAL1 AIR LIFT bioreactor allows us the control of necessary conditions for a growth more efficient of the microorganisms. This will allow leach more rapidly the ore, increasing the molybdenum extraction kinetics. The results of extraction from bioleaching molybdenite in an orbital incubator were ＜1% Mo. The new RELVA-RBAL 1 AIR LIFT bioreactor showed hight efficiency, 98.84% of extracted molybdenum, most reported in the shortest time.