The effect of Phanerochaete chrysosporium on degradation and preg-robbing capacity of activated carbon,which was used as a substitute of carbonaceous matter in carbonaceous gold ores,was studied.After 14 d treatment with Phanerochaete chrysosporium,the degradation rate of activated carbon reached 27.59%.The XRD and FTIR analyses indicate that Phanerochaete chrysosporium can distort the micro-crystalline structure of activated carbon,increase the number of oxygen-containing groups and aliphatics and make the aromatic structures be oxidized and exfoliated.The gold-adsorption tests show that Phanerochaete chrysosporium can reduce the preg-robbing capacity of activated carbon by 12.88%.This indicates that Phanerochaete chrysosporium is an available microorganism,and it can be employed to reduce the preg-robbing capacity of carbonaceous matter and improve the gold leaching rate.The combined effect of passivation,alkalization and oxidation of biological enzymes-free radicals of Phanerochaete chrysosporium on carbonaceous matter was also discussed.
Carbonaceous gold mines are important refractory gold ores. The previous results demonstrate that the carbonaceous matter is mainly composed of elemental carbon, organic acid and hydrocarbons. The dissolved aurocyanide complex is robbed by adsorption of carbonaceous matter, which is similar to activated carbon in cyanide leaching of gold. The pretreatment methods of carbonaceous gold ores were introduced, including high temperature roasting, bio-oxidation, chemical oxidation, competitive adsorption, barrier inhibition and microwave roasting. Recently, bio-oxidation was developed rapidly due to its advantages such as mild conditions, simple processes, low energy consumption and friendly environment. The known microorganisms related with bio-oxidation pretreatment mainly are chemolithotroph bacteria such as Thiobacillus ferrooxidans, Thiobacillus thiooxidans and Leptospirillum ferrooxidans. The researches on decomposing and passivating carbonaceous matter were commenced by Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Pseudomonadaceae and Streptomyces setonii. Finally, the main problems were analyzed and the application prospect of this technique was looked forward.
Passivation is a common phenomenon on the surface of chalcopyrite in the process of bioleaching. The ordinary leaching and strengthening leaching by adding glass beads were carried out. The results show that the passivation of chalcopyrite was greatly weakened in strengthening leaching due to the change of leaching conditions. The copper leaching efficiency was increased from 50% to 89.8% through adding beads. The SEM and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses illustrate that there are few jarosite precipitates and weak passivation on the surface of chalcopyrite in strengthening leaching. In contrast, there are thick and compact jarosite precipitate and obvious passivation in ordinary leaching, which hinders further dissolution of chalcopyrite.