Abstract
A microbial fungus - Aspergillus terreus was used to degrade phosphorus in Nigeria’s Agbaja iron ore in the laboratory. The ore was first crushed to very tiny particles, screened using Shital test kits and 1.00/0.50mm, 0.50/0.25mm and 0.25/0.125mm particle size fractions were selected for the experiment. The microbes, obtained from the nascent remains on the ore environment, were cultured, used to inoculate 1g of sterile ore samples in 250ml conical flasks containing 100ml of equally sterile malt extract broth media and left to stand. At weekly interval, the samples were removed, treated through series of chemical reactions and ammonium phospho-molybdate precipitate was obtained. This was back-titrated with 0.1 NHCl to determine the amount of phosphorus left in samples and consequently, the amount removed. Findings reveal that A. terreus is capable of degrading the ore samples. pH monitoring reveals that the P degradation process proceeded in a culture media of increasing acidity. It is recommended to further study the chemistry of the mixture of culture media, ore samples and microbes to find parameters that favour the degradation process. Key words: Ore, microbes, screening, broth, degradation, accumulation, inoculati
Highlights
The Nigeria’s Agbaja iron ore reserve analyzed 47.5%Fe [1]
The iron ore was collected from Agbaja, near Lokoja in Kogi State of Nigeria
Malt extract broth (MEB) powder was mixed with distilled water in accordance with standard procedure. 100ml of this was dispensed into 250ml conical flasks
Summary
The Nigeria’s Agbaja iron ore reserve analyzed 47.5%Fe [1]. It remains the country’s largest reserve [2] but had long been abandoned due to the fact of very high phosphorus content variously estimated by researchers as 0.76 – 2.13% [1, 2, 3]. A flurry of research activities into the removal of phosphorus from the Nigeria’s Agbaja iron ore commenced in the eighties.
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