The Novel Use of Microalgae in the Greening of the Metallurgical Industry

Abstract

The application of biotechnological methods in the metallurgical industry has the potential to provide an environmentally friendly and cost-effective direction of development. Thiobacillus ferrooxidans, a thionic bacterium, and the microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii TN-72 CH were used as complex reagents for extracting gold from sulfide mineral raw materials. The sorption properties of modal and productive multicomponent gold-bearing solutions were studied. The sorption characteristics of the biosorbents were compared with those of sorbents currently used in gold production — the synthetic resin AM2B and GoldCarb activated carbon. The conducted research studying the sorption properties and survival ability of the microalga C. reinhardtii TN-72 CH will make it possible to develop an industrial technology for extracting metal in the hydrometallurgical cycle of gold production. The use of microorganisms in gold hydrometallurgy as an alternative to cyanide methods will reduce the load on the environment while reducing the cost of the technology. In the process of leaching gold-bearing raw materials by microorganisms, even submicroparticles of gold are released, which makes the processing of poor and refractory ores promising. Preliminary biooxidation increases the effectiveness of thiosulfates in terms of both time and gold recovery.

Keywords

• thiobacillus ferrooxidans
• microalgae
• microorganisms
• greening
• gold extraction
• metallurgical industry