An update on possibilities of metals recovery from Polish copper ores by biotechnology. Project Ecometals

Abstract

The possibilities of metals recovery from copper ores with the biotechnological methods are widely known. The methods consist in bioleaching of copper ores, copper concentrates and byproducts of their production, as well as metals recovery from leaching solutions. Biohydrometallurgical methods were tested for years to be applied at KGHM Polska Miedź S.A., in order to improve efficiency of copper production. Several different research units worked on the topic, and the most significant and wide range initiatives in this area are mentioned in this article. One of the initiatives is an ongoing German and French Ecometals project. KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. and KGHM Cuprum Ltd. Research and Development Centre are this project Partners. In the frame of the project different metals bearing materials (ores, concentrates and tailings) are tested. Among them three lithological types of the copper ore from Rudna mine and the copper concentrate from Lubin concentrator are used for studies. The article gives a general overview of these activities, with the main focus on results of bioleaching studies of selected materials, conducted by KGHM Cuprum. In these studies sandstone and shale, as well as so called “shale concentrate” (containing 39% of the shale) were used for experiments, and possibilities of their bioleaching were evaluated.