The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 18, 2012
Filed:
Jul. 19, 2007
Wolfgang Kummer, Goslar, DE;
Wilfried Gutknecht, Goslar, DE;
James Gregory Olson, Arvada, CO (US);
Thomas R. Clark, Lakewood, CO (US);
Wolfgang Kummer, Goslar, DE;
Wilfried Gutknecht, Goslar, DE;
James Gregory Olson, Arvada, CO (US);
Thomas R. Clark, Lakewood, CO (US);
H.C. Starck GmbH, , DE;
Abstract
The invention relates to a method of recovering molybdenum from a molybdenum bearing sulfide material. The material is contacted with a leaching solution in the presence of iron compounds and mesophilic or thermophilic iron oxidizing microorganisms and subsequently, a leaching process is performed by controlling the molar ratio of dissolved ferric iron to dissolved molybdenum. Preferably, a high amount and molar excess of dissolved iron is used. The presence of high concentrations of ferric iron in bioleach solutions allows iron-oxidizing microorganisms to grow and oxidize iron and bioleach molybdenite at dissolved Mo concentrations as high as 4.4 g/L. Organic metabolites were not required for protecting cells from Mo toxicity. Maximum dissolution rates depend on reactor configuration, with agglomerated material simulating heap leaching of almost 1% Mo/day, but up to 10.2% Mo/day in suspension/stirred reactor configurations, with rate highly dependent on temperature within the range of 25° C. to 40° C. The ultimate extent of Mo removal from the molybdenum bearing sulfide material is 89%. Finally, molybdenum is recovered from a leach residue of the leaching process.