Abstract
The bio-leaching approaches are environmentally benign and economically viable. We investigated the bacterial Acidothiobacillus ferrooxidans (Af) and the fungal Aspergillus niger (An) for bio-leaching of REEs from a phosphate ore, and examined the factors governing the leaching processes. Based on the shake flask leaching studies, an increase in surface area with the increase in pulp density level (1-15 wt.%) was found to lead to an increase in the amounts of REEs leached.
Highlights
Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are essential for many important applications, such as in electronics, energy generation and defense
Bacterial/fungi grow and attach to surfaces of minerals from biofilm where attachment may occur via diffusion, convection and/or chemotaxis
Bacterial/fungi appear to be ineffective at higher REE content
Summary
Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are essential for many important applications, such as in electronics, energy generation and defense. The common resources for economic extraction of REEs are typically carbonates such as bastnaesite and phosphate as monazite, which are scarcely available on earth crust [1]. The conventional acid leaching of REEs from oxides are economically unfeasible for the clay and phosphate ores because of significantly low. A major challenge faced in general in chemical leaching processes is the loss of REEs in the phosphate/gypsum precipitates/crystals, which are overcome in a step-by-step manner by sequentially removing impurities such as fluorine and calcium, including steps that carried out at elevated temperatures [5]. Acidophilic bacteria has been are used for bio-leaching of Au/Cu/Ni from low grade ores industrial scale. Studies on bioleaching of REEs from red mud (Al2O3) using Penicillium tricolor and Aspergillus niger (An), and, of bio-leaching (lab-scale) of phosphate rocks using Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (Af) have been reported [6,7]. We conducted bacterial (Af) bio-leaching of REEs from a phosphate ore in shake flasks and in columns, and we examined the key factors that govern leaching kinetics
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