An investigation into the effects of preleach time period, nitrogen supplementation and iron concentration on bioleaching performance

Bioleaching has developed into a very important process for the recovery of valuable metals, particularly from low grade copper ores due to the ever increase in demand. A lag phase is present during the start-up phase of heap bioleach operations characterised by a low degree of microbial colonisation, a low ferrous iron oxidation rate and low microbial proliferation rates, ultimately resulting in a poor copper recovery rate.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Centre for Bioprocess Engineering Research

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• van Zyl, Andries Wynand

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5388

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/5388