Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T15:35:31.641Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Bioleaching of ilmenite and basalt in the presence of iron-oxidizing and iron-scavenging bacteria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2012

Jesica U. Navarrete ,
Ian J. Cappelle ,
Kimberlin Schnittker  and
David M. Borrok
Jesica U. Navarrete
Affiliation:
University of California, Santa Cruz, NASA Ames Research Center, Mail Stop 239-20, Moffett Field, CA, USA e-mail: jesica.u.navarrete@nasa.gov, junavarr@ucsc.edu
Ian J. Cappelle
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA
Kimberlin Schnittker
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA
David M. Borrok
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Bioleaching has been suggested as an alternative to traditional mining techniques in extraterrestrial environments because it does not require extensive infrastructure and bulky hardware. In situ bioleaching of silicate minerals, such as those found on the moon or Mars, has been proposed as a feasible alternative to traditional extraction techniques that require either extreme heat and/or substantial chemical treatment. In this study, we investigated the biotic and abiotic leaching of basaltic rocks (analogues to those found on the moon and Mars) and the mineral ilmenite (FeTiO3) in aqueous environments under acidic (pH ∼ 2.5) and circumneutral pH conditions. The biological leaching experiments were conducted using Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, an iron (Fe)-oxidizing bacteria, and Pseudomonas mendocina, an Fe-scavenging bacteria. We found that both strains were able to grow using the Fe(II) derived from the tested basaltic rocks and ilmenite. Although silica leaching rates were the same or slightly less in the bacterial systems with A. ferrooxidans than in the abiotic control systems, the extent of Fe, Al and Ti released (and re-precipitated in new solid phases) was actually greater in the biotic systems. This is likely because the Fe(II) leached from the basalt was immediately oxidized by A. ferrooxidans, and precipitated into Fe(III) phases which causes a change in the equilibrium of the system, i.e. Le Chatelier's principle. Iron(II) in the abiotic experiment was allowed to build up in solution which led to a decrease in its overall release rate. For example, the percentage of Fe, Al and Ti leached (dissolved + reactive mineral precipitates) from the Mars simulant in the A. ferrooxidans experimental system was 34, 41 and 13% of the total Fe, Al and Ti in the basalt, respectively, while the abiotic experimental system released totals of only 11, 25 and 2%. There was, however, no measurable difference in the amounts of Fe and Ti released from ilmenite in the experiments with A. ferrooxidans versus the abiotic controls. P. mendocina scavenged some Fe from the rock/mineral substrates, but the overall amount of leaching was small (<2% of total Fe in rocks) when compared with the acidophilic systems. Although the mineralogy of the tested basaltic rocks was roughly similar, the surface areas of the lunar and Mars simulants varied greatly and thus were possible factors in the overall amount of metals released. Overall, our results indicate that the presence of bacteria does not increase the overall silica leaching rates of basaltic rocks; however, the presence of A. ferrooxidans does lead to enhanced release of Fe, Al and Ti and subsequent sequestration of Fe (and other metals) in Fe(III)-precipitates.

Keywords

Bioleachingbiominingin situ resource utilizationiron oxidizing bacteriabiomineral
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , April 2013 , pp. 123 - 134
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bokun, Y., Runsheng, W., Fuping, G. & Zhenchao, W. (2010). Minerals mapping of the lunar surface with Clementine UVVIS/NIR data based on spectra unmixing method and Hapke model. Icarus 208, 11–19.Google Scholar
Brantley, S.L., Guynn, R.L., Liermann, L.J., Anbar, A., Barling, J. & Icopini, G. (2004). Fe isotopic fractionation during mineral dissolution with and without bacteria. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 68(15), 3189–3204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brantley, S.L. (2008). Kinetics of Mineral Dissolution. In Kinetics of Water-Rock Interaction, eds Brantley, S.L., Kubicki, J.D. & White, A.F., pp. 161–165. Springer Science + Business Media, LLC.Google Scholar
Brown, I.I., Sarkisova, S.A., Garrison, D.H., Thomas-Keptra, K., Allen, C.C., Jones, J.A., Galindo, C. & McKay, D.S. (2008). Bio-weathering of lunar and Martian rocks by cyanobacteria: a resource for moon and Mars exploration. 39th Lunar Planet. Sci. Conf. Abstr. abstract 1391.Google Scholar
Dehner, C.A., Awaya, J.D., Maurice, P.A. & DuBois, J.L. (2010). Roles of siderophores, oxalate, and ascorbate in mobilization of iron from hematite by the aerobic bacterium Pseudomonas mendocina. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 76, 2041–2048.Google Scholar
Dhunaga, S., Anthony, C.R. III & Hersman, L.E. (2007). Effect of exogenous reductant on growth and iron mobilization from ferrihydrite by the Pseudomonas mendocina ymp strain. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73(10), 3428–3430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, K.J., Bach, W., McCollom, T.M. & Rogers, D.R. (2004). Neutrophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria in the ocean: their habitats, diversity, and roles in mineral deposition, rock alteration, and biomass production in the deep-sea. Geomicrobiol. 21, 393–404.Google Scholar
Fisk, M.R. & Giovannoni, S.J. (1999). Sufficient conditions for a deep biosphere on Mars. J. Geophys. Res., Planets 104, 11805–11815.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibbs, M.M. (1979). A simple method for the rapid determination of iron in natural waters. Water Res. 19, 295–297.Google Scholar
González-Toril, E., Martínez-Frías, J., Gómez, J.M.G., Rull, F. & Amils, R. (2005). Iron meteorites can support the growth of acidophilic chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms. Astrobiol. 5, 406–414.Google Scholar
Gronstal, A., Pearson, V., Kappler, A., Dooris, C., Anand, M., Poitrasson, F., Kee, T.P. & Cockell, C.S. (2009). Laboratory experiments on the weathering of iron meteorites and carbonaceous chondrites by iron-oxidizing bacteria. Met. Planet. Sci. 44, 233–247.Google Scholar
Gustafsson, J.P. (2007). Visual MINTEQ, version 2.53. Available from: http://www.lwr.kth.se/English/OurSoftware/vminteq/index.htm>..>Google Scholar
Harneit, K., Göksel, A., Kock, D., Klock, J.H., Gehrke, T. & Sand, W. (2006). Adhesion to metal sulfide surfaces by cells of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans and Leptospirillum ferrooxidans. Hydrometallurgy 83, 245–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hersman, L.E., Forsythe, J.H., Ticknor, L.O. & Maurice, P.A. (2001). Growth of Pseudomonas mendocina on Fe(III)(hydr)-oxides. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67, 4448–4453.Google Scholar
Hider, R.C. (1984). Siderophore mediated absorption of iron from microorganisms and plants. Struct. Bond. 58, 25–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jain, N. & Sharma, D.K. (2004). Biohydrometallurgy for nonsulfidic minerals – a review. Geomicrobiol. J. 21, 135–144.Google Scholar
James, G., Chamitoff, G. & Barker, D. (1998). Resource Utilization and Site Selection for a Self-Sufficient Martian Outpost. NASA Technical Memorandum NASA/TM-98-206538.Google Scholar
Jakosky, B.M. & Shock, E.L. (1998). The biological potential of Mars, the early Earth, and Europa. J. Geophys. Res. 103, 19359–19364.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, D.B. (1995). Selective solid media for isolating and enumerating acidophilic bacteria. J. Microbiol. Methods 23, 205–218.Google Scholar
Johnson, D.B., Macvicar, J.H.M. & Rolfe, S. (1987). A new solid medium for the isolation and enumeration of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans and acidophilic heterotrophic bacteria. J. Microbiol. Methods 7(1), 9–18.Google Scholar
Lasaga, A.C., Soler, J.M., Ganor, J., Burch, T.E. & Nagy, K.L. (1994). Chemical weathering rate laws and global geochemical cycles. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 58, 2361–2386.Google Scholar
Maurice, P.A., Lee, Y.J. & Hersman, L.E. (2000). Dissolution of Al-substituted goethites by an aerobic Pseudomonas mendocina var. bacteria. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 64(8), 1363–1374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, R.V., Golden, D.C., Bell, J.F., Lauer, H.V. Jr. & Adams, J.B. (1993). Pigmenting agents in Martian soils: inferences from spectral, Mössbauer, and magnetic properties of nanophase and other iron oxides in Hawaiian palagonitic soil PN-9. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 57, 4597–4609.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murr, L.E. & Brierley, J.A. (eds). (1978). The use of large-scale test facilities in studies of the role of microorganisms in commercial leaching operations. In Metallurgical Applications of Bacterial Leaching and Related Microbiological Phenomena, eds Murr, L.E., Torma, A.E. & Brierley, J.A., Academic Press, New York, pp. 491–520.Google Scholar
Nordstrom, D.K. & Southam, G. (1997). Geomicrobiology of sulfide mineral oxidation Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, January 1997, v. 35, pp. 361–390.Google Scholar
Olsson-Francis, K. & Cockell, C.S. (2010). Use of cyanobacteria for in-situ resource use in space applications. Planet. Space Sci. 58, 1279–1285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rawlings, D.E. & Johnson, D.B. (2007). The microbiology of biomining: development and optimization of mineral-oxidizing microbial consortia. Microbiology 153, 315–324.Google Scholar
Santelli, C.M., Welch, S.A., Westrich, H.R. & Banfield, J.F. (2001). The effect of Fe-oxidizing bacteria on Fe-silicate mineral dissolution. Chem. Geol. 180, 99–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schrenk, M.O., Edwards, K.J., Goodman, R.M., Hamers, R.J. & Banfield, J.F. (1998). Distribution of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans and Leptospirillum ferrooxidans: implications for generation of acid mine drainage. Science 279, 1519–1522.Google Scholar
Schwartzkopf, S.H. (1992). Design of a controlled ecological system: regenerative technologies are necessary for implementation in a lunar base CELSS. Bioscience 42, 526–535.Google Scholar
Sherlock, E.J., Lawrence, R.W. & Poulin, R. (1995). On the neutralization of acid rock drainage by carbonate and silicate minerals Environ. Geology 25, 43–54.Google Scholar
Singer, P.C. & Stumm, W. (1970). Acidic mine drainage: the rate-determining step. Science 167, 1121–1123.Google Scholar
Stumm, W. & Wieland, E. (1990). Dissolution of oxide and silicate minerals: rates depend on surface speciation. In Aquatic Chemical Kinetics, ed Stumm, W., pp. 367–400. Wiley-Interscience, New York.Google Scholar
Van Aswegen, P.C., Godfrey, M.W., Miller, D.M. & Haines, A.K. (1991). Developments and innovations in bacterial oxidation of refractory ores. Miner. Metall. Proc. 8, 188–191.Google Scholar
Werner, E., Roe, F., Bugnicourt, A., Franklin, M.J., Heydorn, A., Molin, S., Pitts, B. & Stewart, P.S. (2004). Stratified growth in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70, 6188–6196.Google Scholar
White, A.F. & Brantley, S.L. (Eds). (1995). Chemical weathering rates of silicate minerals. Reviews in Mineralogy, vol. 31. Mineralogical Society of America, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Westrich, H.R., Cygan, R.T., Casey, W.H., Zemitis, C. & Arnold, G.W. (1993). The dissolution kinetics of mixed-cation orthosilicate minerals. Am. J. Sci. 293, 869–893.Google Scholar
Wogelius, R.A. & Walther, J.V. (1992). Olivine dissolution kinetics at near-surface conditions. Chem. Geol. 97, 101–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, L., Jacobson, A.D. & Hausner, M. (2008) Characterization of elemental release during microbe–granite interactions at T = 28 °C. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 72, 1076–1095.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Navarrete Supplementary Material

Appendix

Download Navarrete Supplementary Material(File)
File 253 KB