Influence of Ferrous Iron Addition on Silver Catalyzed Bioleaching of Copper from Chalcopyrite using an Isolated Acidithiobacillus Ferrooxidans Strain

Shake flask studies on influence of initial ferrous iron on bioleaching of copper from chalcopyrite using novel isolated bacterial strain Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans BMSNITK17 with and without addition of silver catalyst was conducted and reported. Non-catalysed bioleaching of copper yields about 0.9 g/L of with 16 g/L of initial ferrous iron concentration while Silver catalysed bioleaching of copper from chalcopyrite yields about 1.6 g/L of copper with initial ferrous iron concentration of 4 g/L. Variation of pH, ferrous and ferric iron during the study were recorded and discussed. This study confirms the influence of initial ferrous iron concentration on bioleaching of copper.