Microbial Leaching for Recovery of Nickel and Cobalt from Lateritic Ore: A Review

摘要

The use of heterotrophic fungi (strains of Aspergillus and Penicillium) and bacteria (strains of Bacillus and Pseudomona) for metal recovery have been extensively studied. However, in case of nickel recovery from lateritic ores, strains of Aspergillus and Penicillium are the most preferred microorganisms. Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans a chemolithotrophic bacterium has been reported to solubilize nickel from lateritic ore by microbial reductive method. Recent study reported about the use of DIRB (Dissimilatory Iron Reducing Bacteria) in bio-reduction of lateritic chromite overburden (COB) and enhancement in nickel and cobalt recovery. Subsequent leaching of DIRB pretreated ore by H_2SO_4 results in enhanced recovery of nickel and cobalt. Further work is required to better understand the bioleaching process and identification of more efficient microbial strains.