In the past, one of the main difficulties n when using bio-oxidation to process minerals was the monitoring and control of its progress and kinetics. Some gains, however, have been made by measuring the oxygen take-up in the air exiting the heap and examining the cumulative oxygen depletion. According to the US-based GeoBiotics LLC, using this approach can successfully confirm that a bio-oxidation reaction has taken off at an acceptable rate. Simply relying on the measurement of the ferric to ferrous rations and the Eh (the common name for redox potential, which is an intensity parameter of the overall redox reaction in the system, not the capacity of the system for specific oxidisation or reduction reactions) - the company said - usually indicated bacterial activity rather than acceptable reaction kinetics.
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