In order to investigate the enrichment of ferric iron bound by extracellular polymeric substance （EPS） on the mineral surface during bioleaching of chalcopyrite, several methods including sonication, heating and vortexing were used and sonication at 48℃ was shown as a good way to extract ferric iron. Scanning electron microscope （SEM） and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer （EDX） analysis showed that lots of cracks and pits can be found on the chalcopyrite surface after bioleaching and that iron oxide was filled in these cracks and pits. The variations of contents of ferric iron and EPS on the chalcopyrite surface were investigated. The results indicated that the content of EPS increased rapidly in the first 10 d and then maintained at a stable level, while ferric iron content increased all the time, especially in the later stage of bioleaching.
In order to investigate the effects of processing pH stimulation on bioleaching of chalcopyrite by moderate thermophiles,copper leaching rates and the dynamics of microbial community structures of free and attached cells were monitored. The results indicated that when the processing pH values were respectively adjusted to 1.0 and 3.0 on day 14, both free and attached cells experienced an adaptive phase. Meanwhile, the copper leaching rates were 86.9% and 64.0%,respectively, as opposed to a copper leaching rate of 87.5% in the control group without pH stimulation. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis suggested that pH stimulation imposed less impact on the attached organisms than on the free cells, indicating that the attached cells were more resistant to processing pH stimulation than the free cells. Furthermore, adjusting processing pH to 3.0 significantly disrupted both free and attached microbial communities, and the bioleaching system could not recover to the normal status as the control group.
