Phillips Petroleum Company

Mbx Systems, Inc.

The University of Arizona

Metallurgical and Biological Extraction Systems, Inc.

James E Sharp

Kevin L Stuffle

Patricia A Rusin

Tom L Young

Kelly L Karlage

Robert G Arnold

Sean P Premeau

Norval Arthur Sinclair

Disclosed is an improved process for using iron-oxidizing bacteria to reactivate the raffinate ferrous sulfate solution in chemical leach operations. The process uses a biological raffinate converter, or BRC, as a key feature of the process. The process provides enhanced efficiency and commercial utility over the best known biological process for converting raffinate ferrous sulfate. The resulting ferric sulfate then can be recycled back into the bioleaching process of, for example, copper from chalcocite.

Rapid ferrous sulfate biooxidation

The subject invention provides a novel process and bioreactor for enhancing the bioleaching of metals from sulfide mineral concentrations.

Sulfide mineral concentrate bioleaching

Disclosed and claimed is an efficient process for extraction of metals from ores using carbon catalyzed leaching. Specifically exemplified is the extraction of cobalt and nickel from laterite ore.

Carbon catalyzed leaching of metal-containing ores

Materials and methods for the enhancement of the biooxidative acid leaching of heavy metals from sulfide ore are disclosed and claimed. The enhancement of bioleach solutions with a nutrient supplement selective for a particular sulfide oxidizing strain of bacteria significantly increases copper solubilization of chalcopyrite ore. Likewise, copper solubilization is enhanced by enriching bioleach solutions with a non-selective growth mediums.

Enhancement of bioleach systems using nutrient additives

Disclosed is an efficient biological process for recovering heavy metals from refractory ore, and a process for removing heavy metal contaminants from the soil. The process utilizes a potato extract growth medium (PEGM) to greatly increase the efficiency for recovering heavy metals from ores and for removing heavy metal contaminants from soil. Microbes which can be used in the process are manganese reducing Bacillus sp., or mutants thereof which retain the metal recovering properties of the parent microbe. Further, recombinant microbes, as disclosed herein, can be used in the same manner as the native microbe.

Biological processes for recovering heavy metals

A method for recovering silver from a refractory manganese dioxide-silver ore. The ore is contacted with an effective amount of a culture of direct manganese-reducing Bacillus polymyxa bacteria. The ore-bacteria mixture is maintained at an approximately neutral pH until a sufficient amount of the manganese dioxide in the ore is reduced from Mn(IV) to Mn(II). The silver present in the ore is then recovered by conventional methods such as cyanide leaching.

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Tucson, AZ, United States of America

James E Sharp