HOW TO MANAGE SULFIDE ORES WITHOUT FLOTATION - THE BIOHYDROMETALLURGICAL CENTRE (BHMZ) FOR BIO IN- SITU LEACHING AT TU BERGAKADEMIE FREIBERG

摘要

Managing sulfide ores, especially during processing, always is a complex procedure. Since the 1980's bioleaching has been used in primary and secondary processing plants. Today, bio-heap leaching is a commonly applied method with high extraction rates. Therefore, bioleaching was combined with in situ borehole leaching to develop a new mining technology for narrow vein sulfide ore deposits in the context of a research project at TU Freiberg, Germany. These complex deposits, which include sulfides, are expected to become significantly important in the future due to limited reserves and high demand of raw materials. Hence, Biohydrometallurgic Centre (BHMZ) has been established at TU Freiberg in 2013 and after five years of research and development, the continuous leaching of an ore vein is in operation since April 2018. This paper discusses the preparation, implementation and the first problems which occurred during the installation of the BHMZ in-situ leaching site. Furthermore, the effectiveness of in-situ-bioleaching processes is discussed.