Thermophilic microorganism sulfolobus growth and leaching chalcopyrite properties

The sulfolobus, a thermophilic microorganism, can grow at high temperature up to 65℃. It has good ability to oxidizing element sulfur and ferrous ion and can meet the high temperature demand in dump leaching and chalcopyrite stirring leaching in a reactor. The culture results show that at 75℃the sulfolobus has more adapted to the environment than below and above the temperature. The changing tends of the solution pH,redox potential, SO₄^2- concentration and ferrous oxidation rate with time in bio culture as well as in bioleaching of chalcopyrite concentrate were elucidated. The bioleaching experiments show that using the trained sulfolobus strains at 75℃ in the shake blasting when the slurry mass fraction is below 10%, the chalcopyrite concentrate leaching rate could up to 90% after 150 h leaching. But when slurry mass fraction is up to 15%, after 350 h leaching, the leaching rate is only 80%. It demonstrates that the slurry mass fraction has apparently effect on the leaching results.