Journal of the Korean Society of Mineral and Energy Resources Engineers ISSN:2288-0291(Print) 2288-2790(Online) 한국자원공학회지

The bioleaching mechanism of copper from a refractory chalcopyrite concentrate in the presence of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans was investigated. The pre-treatment and physicochemical properties of the concentrate samples were studied and the leaching behavior by oxidation process was investigated in terms of various reaction parameters. It was observed that the high rate of copper leaching was achieved by the indirect oxidation process of Fe2(SO4)3 which was transformed from FeSO4, a substrate, oxidized with the microorganism while the direct oxidation of chalcopyrite by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans was believed to be very slow the leaching activity less. In addition, the effect of the substrate on the copper recovery was studied. The copper leaching efficiency from chalcopyrite was not changed noticeably in the range of 5 to 9g/l of the iron concentration and copper was recovered well even at the pulp density of 200g/l.