Many low grade nickel sulphide ores are hosted in gangue containing high levels of magnesium silicates, which consequently consume a large amount of sulphuric acid in conventional bacterial leaching scenarios where solution pH's below 2 are required. BioHeap has developed a saline tolerant bacterial culture using patented methods, that is capable of operating at elevated pH's at levels where ferric iron precipitates out of solution. Operating at elevated pH has the dual advantage of significantly reducing the acid consumption and reducing limestone demand for iron disposal.Further work is planned to critically compare the performance of the high pH culture against cultures operating at conventional pH and to expand the range of cultures that are capable of operating at high pH.
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