Abstract
This research focused on the evaluation of the potential use of a soil-isolated bacteria, identified as Staphylococcus equorum, for microbial-induced calcite precipitation (MICP) and copper removal. Isolated bacteria were characterized considering growth rate, urease activity, calcium carbonate precipitation, copper tolerance as minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and copper precipitation. Results were compared with Sporosarcina pasteurii, which is considered a model bacteria strain for MICP processes. The results indicated that the S. equorum strain had lower urease activity, calcium removal capacity and copper tolerance than the S. pasteurii strain. However, the culture conditions tested in this study did not consider the halophilic feature of the S. equorum, which could make it a promising bacterial strain to be applied in process water from mining operations when seawater is used as process water. On the other hand, copper removal was insufficient when applying any of the bacteria strains evaluated, most likely due to the formation of a copper–ammonia complex. Thus, the implementation of S. equorum for copper removal needs to be further studied, considering the optimization of culture conditions, which may promote better performance when considering calcium, copper or other metals precipitation.
Highlights
Water scarcity is nowadays a serious problem for many societies, which has trigged a variety of efforts towards smart and sustainable management, treatment and reuse of this vital element
Despite the absence of published research dealing with the application of S. equorum in microbial-induced calcite precipitation (MICP)-based processes for mining operations, other Staphylococcus strains have been proposed as bioremediation agents for heavy metals through calcium carbonate precipitation
The results indicated that S. equorum had lower urease activity, calcium removal and copper tolerance than S. pasteurii
Summary
Water scarcity is nowadays a serious problem for many societies, which has trigged a variety of efforts towards smart and sustainable management, treatment and reuse of this vital element. Industry is called to play an active role in the framework of such efforts, especially when water is relevant for the process involved. Mining is a water-intensive industry because of water consumption associated with extraction, processing and disposal of minerals. The decreasing ore grade of many mining deposits demands a higher volume of process water [3]. Mining operations usually impact the environment because of the disposal of tailings and wastewaters that sometimes contaminate the soil and nearby watercourses with heavy metals [4]. Water recirculation and wastewater treatment are focuses of special interest for the mining industry when conceiving the future projection of this activity
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