Leaching of Pyrite by <i>Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans</i> Monitored by Electrochemical Methods

Abstract

The aim of this work was to use electrochemical methods, capable to follow the corrosion of minerals, in order to monitor the progressive attack of the bacteria on the mineral. The assay was performed in a three electrode cell, with pyrite as the working electrode. The tests were performed in the absence and presence of iron; when present it was in low concentration. In order to compare the bacterial attack with other conditions, the study was conducted in three systems: live bacteria in culture media, dead bacteria in culture media, and sterile culture media, used as a control. The initial bacterial concentration was 106 bact.mL-1. To follow the process, current and corrosion potential were calculated. Live bacteria system showed a continuous increase of current with respect to the incubation time, being up to 4-times higher in the condition with iron (the corrosion current is related to the increase of the mineral area, produced by the bacterial attack, which was corroborated identifying by SEM the bacterial fingerprint on the mineral). Dead bacteria and sterile culture medium showed no current increase with respect to time. In addition, voltammetric studies shown that in live bacteria system the surface area increased when the biofilm was present. Whereas, in the dead bacteria system only the presence of some organic compounds interacting with the mineral was detected. The controls (sterile culture medium) showed the presence of iron hydroxides complexes and elemental sulfur, product of chemical leaching and the initial phase of a passivation process. With this study we demonstrated that the leaching process can be monitored by electrochemical methods, where the process of bacterial-mineral interaction could be followed, and also simultaneously identifying the initial processes of passivation. Our work can be useful for the development of a device for the in situ monitoring of biomining processes.