Hydrometallurgy 95 (2009) 70–75

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Hydrometallurgy
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / h yd r o m e t

Dissolution of uranium from silicate-apatite ore by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

Abhilash a, S. Singh a, K.D. Mehta a, V. Kumar a, B.D. Pandey a,⁎, V.M. Pandey b
a
MEF Division, National Metallurgical Laboratory (CSIR), Jamshedpur-831007, Jharkhand, India
b
Uranium Corporation of India, Ltd., Jaduguda Mines P.O., Jharkhand-83102, India

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: Bioleaching of a low-grade Indian silicate-apatite uranium ore containing 0.024% U3O8 and 10.6% iron with
Received 29 October 2007 minor amounts of base metals has been reported. The studies involved extraction of uranium using enriched
Received in revised form 18 March 2008 culture containing Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (A. ferrooxidans) derived from the source mine water
Accepted 27 April 2008
employing bio-chemically generated ferric ion as an oxidant. Parameters such as particle size of the ore, pulp
Available online 3 May 2008
density, and pH of lixiviant media were optimised. Maximum uranium bio-dissolution of 98% was achieved
Keywords:
using ore of mixed particles of b 76 μm size. Uranium bio-recovery was found to be 96% at the pulp density
Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (PD) of 10% (w/v) and 20% (w/v) with the particles of b 76 μm size in 40 days at 2.0 pH and 35 °C temperature.
Uranium bio-recovery At 1.7 pH and 20% (w/v) PD, 98% uranium bio-recovery was achieved with a rise in redox potential from
Ferric ions 595 mV to 715 mV in 40 days. Uranium bio-dissolution may be correlated with the generation of ferric ions
Indirect leaching through the bio-chemical action on the ore. The work illustrated the efficacy of leaching of uranium by the
involvement of bacteria by indirect mechanism.
© 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction oxidant, and is enriched by ion-exchange/solvent extraction process to

As the conventional processes such as roasting, smelting, etc.,
involve high energy consumption and cause pollution, hydrometal-
lurgy and bio-hydrometallurgy are emerging a natural choice for
extraction of metals from complex and lean grade ores/wastes
(Ehrlich, 1997, 2001; Fletcher, 1970; Brierley and Brierley, 2001). For
the exploitation of such resources, extensive studies on the bacterial
leaching have been reported to several non-ferrous metals using the
iron-oxidising bacteria of genus Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans
(A. ferrooxidans). Application of bio-processing of lean ores/wastes is
being practised in South America, Australia, South Africa and Chile on
commercial scale for extraction of copper, gold and uranium by
employing species such as A. ferrooxidans, Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans
(A. thiooxidans), Leptospirillum ferrooxidans, Sulfolobus sp. and thermo-
philic bacteria including Sulfobacillus thermosulfidoxidans and Acidia-
nus brierleyi (Rawlings and Silver, 1995; Lundgren and Silver, 1980;
Natarajan, 1994).
Uranium, one of the strategic metals of this energy era, finds
application as a fuel in nuclear power generation. The major minerals
of uranium are uraninite, carnotite, pitchblende, coffinite, tobernite,
autunite, and tyuyamunite. Due to the depletion of high-grade
deposits of uranium and accumulation of large quantities of tailings,
there is a need to develop suitable technology to recover the metal
from these resources. Uranium is conventionally recovered from its
ores by chemical method following acid or alkali leaching using an
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 657 2271752; fax: +91 657 2270527.
E-mail address: bd_pandey@yahoo.co.uk (B.D. Pandey).
precipitate magnesium diuranate (Gupta et al., 2004). To recover
uranium particularly from the low-grade ores/tailings, bioleaching has
often been employed using A. ferrooxidans (Price et al., 2004; Akcil,
2004). Several researchers worldwide have reported uranium bio-
leaching on various scales of operation. Muňoz et al. (1995a) reported
98% uranium recovery with A. ferrooxidans using Spanish uranium ore
at 35 °C and 2.0 pH. High (93%) uranium extraction from brannerite
mineral was obtained by Tuovinen (1972) at 28 °C and 1.5 pH in shake
flask. Uranium bio-recovery of 60% against control experiment (30%)
using A. ferrooxidans from Brazilian low-grade uranium ore
(b14 mesh) was achieved (Garcia-Junior, 1993) at 30% pulp density,
30 °C and 2.8 pH in shake flask in 60 days. The leaching in a column
(40 cm height and 7.5 cm diameter) packed with 500 g of the same ore
(from Figueira-PR, Brazil) showed uranium extraction of ~50% under
the above conditions in 45 days. About 50% uranium was recovered
with A. ferrooxidans at 10–12 °C and a low pH (1.2) at Agnew Lake
Mine from 2 tonnes of b200 mm ore packed in a column (McCready
and Gould, 1990). Uranium bioleaching was also investigated in PVC
columns by Muňoz et al. (1995b) for the Spanish uranium ore (0.087%
U3O8) with 60% uranium dissolution.
The mesophilic iron and/ or sulfur-oxidising bacteria, viz.
A. ferrooxidans and A. thiooxidans are extensively employed for the
oxidation of pyritic and sulfide minerals. During the process, bacteria
derive energy for their growth and other metabolic functions from the
oxidation of inorganic materials such as sulfide/pyrite minerals
(Cabral and Ignatiadis, 2001; Guay et al., 1977; Hansford and Vargas,
2001; Sand et al., 2001; McCready et al., 1986). The bioleaching of
uranium by A. ferrooxidans (At.f) follows indirect mechanism (Choi

0304-386X/$ – see front matter © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.hydromet.2008.04.013
 Abhilash et al. / Hydrometallurgy 95 (2009) 70–75
Table 1
Composition of Turamdih ore
% Component
U3O8 Fe Cu Ni Co SiO2 CaO TiO2
0.024 10.64 0.093 0.048 0.056 47.40 1.085 0.383
et al., 2005; Anderson and Lovley, 2002; Bonk et al., 1997; Devasia and
Natarajan, 2004) in which the bacteria generate ferric sulfate—a
lixiviant which chemically oxidises the small amount of pyrite present
in the ore.
At:f
2FeS2 þ 2H2 SO4 þO2 Y 2FeSO4 þ2H2 Oþ4S-
At:f
2FeSO4 þH2 SO4 þ 1=2O2 Y Fe2 ðSO4 Þ3 þH2 O
As the amount of pyrite is often small, addition of sulfuric acid for
maintaining pH leads to dissolution of iron from the magnetite
present in ore (reaction 3)
Fe3 O4 þ 4H2 SO4 →FeSO4 þ Fe2 ðSO4 Þ3 þ 4H2 O:
2+
Sufficient iron as Fe in the solution is thus available because of
chemical oxidation of iron sulfide and solubilisation of magnetite in an
acid environment at 1.7–2.0 pH (Dutrizac and MacDonald, 1974). The
ferrous iron is oxidised to ferric iron by A. ferrooxidans which takes
part in the oxidation process. In the pH range 1.5–2.5, bacterial
oxidation of ferrous oxidation is about 105–106 times faster than the
chemical oxidation (Muňoz et al., 1995a).
The sulfur obtained above (reaction 1) may simultaneously be
oxidised to sulfuric acid by A. ferrooxidans (Tuovinen and Hsu, 1984).
At:f
2S-þ3O2 þ2H2 O Y 2H2 SO4
3+
The role of Fe in the bioleaching of uranium from its ore is to oxidise
tetravalent uranium to water-soluble hexavalent uranium (Tuovinen
and Hsu, 1984):
At:f
UO2 þFe2 ðSO4 Þ3 Y UO2 SO4 þ2FeSO4 :
Ferrous sulfate produced in the process is re-oxidised to ferric
sulfate by bacteria. There are however, some reports on oxidation of U
(IV) to U(VI) enzymatically by A. ferrooxidans which uses energy of this
reaction for the assimilation of CO2 (Tuovinen and Kelly, 1974;
DiSpirito and Tuovinen, 1982; Hutchins et al., 1986), but indirect
mechanism is mostly accepted in the bio-recovery of uranium. The
acidic ferric sulfate could replace environmentally undesirable
pyrolusite as an oxidant in conventional leaching.
Bioleaching of uranium was studied earlier by Mathur and
Dwivedy (1994), Mathur et al. (2000) and Dwivedy and Mathur
(1995) for testing the dissolution efficiencies of some ores in East
Singhbhum Belt (Jharkhand) of India. The use of biogenically
generated ferric sulfate in uranium leaching was proposed, which
showed reduction in acid consumption also. The low-grade ores/
tailings of uranium from different mines are owned and developed by
Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), Jaduguda. In order to
augment the supply of uranium in India, efforts are being made to
recover uranium using bioleaching approach. In this endeavour, the
low-grade ore of Turamdih area which is friable in nature and
produced from open cast mining may be considered for its
amenability to bioleaching. This ore contains partially oxidised
uraninite embedded in the closely compact matrix of quartz and
high amount of apatite and magnetite. The present paper discusses
the results of bench scale work on optimisation of parameters for
uranium bioleaching from Turamdih ore with enriched culture of
A. ferrooxidans derived from the mine water sample.
71
2. Materials and methods
Uranium ore collected in the form of lumps from Turamdih mine
was crushed, ground and sieved to get different size fractions. A
S Al2O3
representative sample was prepared by coning and quartering for
0.168 15.445
chemical analysis (Table 1). The uranium content (U3O8) in different
size fractions were found as: 0.016% in 150–76 μm, 0.024% in 76–45 μm
and 0.013% in b45 μm. The phase identification by XRD as in Table 2
shows that quartz, apatite, alumina and magnetite were the major
phases while kyanite (aluminium silicate), ferrosilite (ferro-silicate),
pyrite and hematite being the minor phases. Uranium was present as
uraninite in the ore. The ore was in partially oxidised state with 40%
uranium in +4 oxidation state while remaining 60% in +6 state.
Water samples collected from different uranium mines (Jaduguda,
ð1Þ
Narwapahar and Turamdih) were the source of A. ferrooxidans which
ð2Þ were isolated in 9K media [(NH4)2SO4: 3.0 g/L, KCl: 0.1 g/L, K2HPO4:
0.5 g/L, MgSO4·7H2O: 0.5 g/L, Ca(NO3)2: 0.01 g/L, FeSO4·7H2O: 44.2 g/L] at
2.0 pH (Mehta et al., 2003). The oxidation of Fe2+ to Fe3+ by A.
ferrooxidans was considered as an indication of its growth. Growth was
also monitored through cell count which was determined in a Petroff-
Hauser counter using Leica™ Biological Microscope. Uranium was
ð3Þ
analysed by Flourimetry [Fluorimeter-Model-FL-6200™] whereas other
metals were analysed by Atomic Absorption Spectrometer [Model-GBC
908BT™]. The enriched culture of A. ferrooxidans was subjected to three
times adaptation on 5% (w/v) ore at 35 °C temperature and 2.0 pH in
incubator shaker and adapted cultures were used for bioleaching.
The leaching experiments were carried out in Erlenmeyer flasks in
an incubator shaker. A 200 mL of slurry containing ore (40 g) was
inoculated with 10% (v/v) of enriched adapted culture with
8.8 × 109 cells/mL. Conditions such as 35 ± 0.2 °C temperature, 2.0 pH,
20% (w/v) pulp density (PD) with shaking at 120 rpm were maintained
for leaching unless otherwise stated. A known amount of sample was
drawn at 5 days interval for analysis of metals leached out. All the
ð4Þ
inoculated sets had their corresponding sterile control sets prepared
under the same condition with 0.2 g/L HgCl2 added as bactericide.
Ferrous ion concentration was analysed by titration against N/20
potassium dichromate solution. The pH of the leach solution was
maintained daily with 5 M sulfuric acid. Redox potential was
ð5Þ measured against SCE. On completion of the leaching experiment,
the slurry was filtered on Whatman Filer Paper (No. 42) and solid
residue was dried. The representative sample of the residue was
chemically analysed and the phases were identified by XRD (Table 2).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Isolation of A. ferrooxidans and microbial cell count
To optimise the parameters for recovery of uranium from the
Turamdih ore, the strains of A. ferrooxidans were isolated from
different mine waters such as Jaduguda, Narwapahar and Turamdih
mines, which were situated within 10 km distance. The microorgan-
isms were isolated in 9K media at 2.0 pH and 35 °C. The culture in
10 days from the Turamdih mine water had 7.2 × 107 cells/mL whereas
Table 2
XRD Phase Analysis of Ore and Leach Residue
Sample Phases
Major Minor
Ore Quartz, apatite, alumina, Kyanite, ferrosilite, pyrite, hematite
magnetite
Leach residue
At 1.7 pH Quartz, alumina Kyanite, villamaninite, hydronium
jarosite, magnetite
At 2.5 pH Quartz, alumina, hydronium Kyanite, villamaninite, magnetite,
jarosite pyrolusite
72 Abhilash et al. / Hydrometallurgy 95 (2009) 70–75
Fig. 1. Change in pH, ferrous ion concentration, and consumption of 5 M H2SO4 during
isolation of A. ferrooxidans from Turamdih mine water (volume of solution: 200 mL).
the counts were 6.8 × 107 and 6.1 × 107 cells/mL from the mine waters
of Narwapahar and Jaduguda mines respectively. Subsequent sub-
culturing of the microbes showed the presence of 8.8 × 109, 7.4 × 109
and 7.8 × 109 cells/mL for the mine waters of Turamdih, Narwapahar
and Jaduguda mines respectively. The growth of A. ferrooxidans was
measured by the iron oxidation rate (Fe2+ to Fe3+) as shown in Fig. 1.
There was a sharp decrease in the concentration of Fe2+ as the bacteria
(A. ferrooxidans) present in the system utilised Fe2+ as energy source to
convert it to Fe3+. The bacteria from Turamdih mine water were found
to be most potent for oxidation of Fe2+ as its concentration decreased
from 2.65 g/L to zero in 7 days of incubation. The redox potential
during growth of A. ferrooxidans from Turamdih mine water at 2.0 pH
and 35 °C in 7 days varied from 275 to 424 mV. The increase in redox
potential may be attributed to the improved oxidation of Fe2+ present
in the solution because of bacteria present in it. The most suitable pH
for isolation of A. ferrooxidans was observed to be 1.7–2.0 and
therefore, the pH of the growth medium was maintained at 2 by
adjusting it with 5 M H2SO4 daily. After 5–6 days, the pH of inoculated
sample remained close to 2 and very less H2SO4 (0.0015 M sulfuric
acid in 200 mL working solution) was consumed for pH maintenance
as shown in Fig. 1. High acid consumption during 0–2 days was to
oxidise Fe(II) to Fe(III) as in reaction 6 and to control the rising pH. The
lower acid consumption beyond 3 days may be the result of
precipitation of Fe(OH)3 with the release of protons (reaction 7)
(Daoud and Karamanev, 2006).
2Fe2þ þ 1=2O2 þ 2Hþ →2Fe3þ þ H2 O
Fe3þ þ 3H2 O→FeðOHÞ3 þ 3Hþ
Total sulfuric acid consumed in 7 days was worked out to 0.036 M
(for 200 mL working solution). In view of similar growth patterns of
different isolate cultures from the mine water samples, the enriched
Fig. 2. Recovery of uranium at 5% and 10% PD using adapted culture at 35 °C, 2.0 pH and
particles of b 76 μm (BL: bioleaching, CL: chemical leaching).
Fig. 3. Recovery of uranium at 20% and 30% PD with enriched culture at 35 °C, 2.0 pH
with b76 μm particles (BL: bioleaching, CL: chemical leaching).
culture containing A. ferrooxidans from Turamdih mine water was
taken for investigating the bio-recovery of uranium. Use of such a
culture may be further beneficial for leaching because of its natural
adaptation to the native ore, although the enriched culture was
inoculated after three times adaptation to the ore in the laboratory
conditions as previously mentioned.
3.2. Effect of pulp density
Pulp density (PD) for the bioleaching of uranium was varied in the
range 5–30% (w/v) using ore particles of b76 μm (mixed) size using
10% (v/v) adapted enriched culture, while shaking at 120 rpm at 2.0 pH
and 35 °C temperature. Data presented in Figs. 2 and 3 show increase
in dissolution of uranium with time in both chemical and bioleaching
experiments. At 5% pulp density, uranium recoveries of 58% and 68%
were obtained in 40 days in chemical and bioleaching respectively. On
further increasing the pulp density to 10% and 20%, the uranium bio-
recovery was found to be the same (96%) with corresponding chemical
control leaching of 60% and 71%. The rise in E was observed from
590 mV to 697 mV in bioleaching and 357 mV to 398 mV in control
leaching for 20% PD in 40 days. At still higher pulp density of 30% (w/v)
under the above conditions, the bio-recovery decreased to 84% (Fig. 3)
because of lower ratio of inoculum to substrate. Uranium leaching in
sterile set (control) was also lower at higher pulp densities. Thus, in
further experiments, 20% pulp density was maintained.
3.3. Effect of pH
ð6Þ
The effect of varying pH from 1.3 to 2.5 at 20% (w/v) PD, 35 °C
ð7Þ temperature with b76 μm size particles on control leaching and
bioleaching of uranium was examined and results are presented in
Figs. 4 and 5. An appreciable increase in bio-recovery of uranium (98%)
at 1.7 pH with an increase in redox potential from 595–715 mV in
40 days was observed as compared to the bio-recovery of 70% and 77%
Fig. 4. Bio-recovery of uranium at varying pH against Redox Potential with 20%PD with
b76 μm particles at 35 °C in 40 days.
 Abhilash et al. / Hydrometallurgy 95 (2009) 70–75 73

dissolution for b45 μm size material. The uranium bio-recovery was

Fig. 5. Chemical recovery of uranium at varying pH against Redox Potential with 20% PD
with b76 μm particles at 35 °C in 40 days.
at 1.3 pH and 1.5 pH with corresponding rise in redox potential from
393–406 mV and 386–416 mV respectively. The metal recovery was
very low at low pH because of lower oxidation potential of leaching
system and decreased activity of bacteria. Increasing the pH to 2.5
reduced the solubilisation of uranium which may be due to the
precipitation of high amount of iron(III) as hydronium jarosite, which
was observed from the XRD phase identification studies (Table 2). The
lower metal bio-recovery (72.3%) may be further correlated with the
lower value of redox potential (558 mV) at 2.5 pH. High metal bio-
recovery (98%) at 1.7 pH may be attributed to the enhanced level of
oxidation of U(IV) to soluble U(VI) form (0.0094 g/L) by Fe(III)
produced through bio-chemical action on the ore. Uranium bioleach-
ing at this pH also may be correlated with very high redox potential
value (715 mV) acquired during the process (Fig. 4). The concentration
of uranium (as U3O8) in solution expressed in g/L for bioleaching and
control experiments at 1.7 pH and 20% PD with time is shown in Fig. 6.
In chemical (control) leaching, uranium dissolution was maximum of
0.0058 g/L in 40 days with redox potential of 423 mV. The bacterial
action facilitated conversion of Fe2+ to Fe3+ in 15 days (Fig. 6) resulting
in high rate of oxidation of U(IV) to U(VI) and consequently higher
uranium bio-recovery. On the other hand, lower iron oxidation rate in
control experiments was responsible for lower metal recovery. The
presence of low Fe(II) level and high amount of Fe(III) generated
biogenically, yielding high uranium recovery suggested that uranium
bio-dissolution followed indirect leaching mechanism.
observed to be 78% for the coarser size fraction (76–53 μm) as against
control leaching of 52% under this condition. This may be attributed to
better permeation of the microbe and Fe3+ rich lixiviant in the 53–
45 μm size particles to oxidise uranium present in the ore. Finer
particles in the size range 53–45 μm were thus increasingly exposed to
oxidation to dissolve uranium from the silicate–magnetite phase.
However, with b76 μm (mixed size) fraction, uranium bio-recovery
recorded a higher value of 96% under the same conditions as
explained earlier (Fig. 6). It may thus be concluded that the mixed
size fractions enables the better permeation of lixiviant resulting in
the higher metal recovery as compared to the ore particles of mid-size
range (53–45 μm).The lower recovery of uranium for finest size ore
(b45 μm) may be the result of lesser permeation of the lixiviant due to
faster sticking/settling of the particles.
Uranium bio-recovery may be correlated with the change in
concentration of ferrous ions and the redox potential values as plotted
in Fig. 8(a–c). Ferrous ion concentration was high (0.3 g/L) initially
which completely oxidise to ferric state in 25 days (Fig. 8b) for 53–
45 μm size particles whereas different oxidation pattern for Fe(II) was
observed for other size fractions. Also, the high value of redox
potential (656 mV) was attained for mid-size range particles (53–
45 μm), which resulted in higher (91%) uranium recovery. The lower
uranium recovery may be correlated with the lower redox potential
values of 630 mV and 650 mV for the coarser and fine size particles.

3.4. Effect of particle size

Effect of particle size on bio-dissolution of uranium is shown in

Fig. 7(a–c). These results indicated that fine particles had better
leachability but after certain fineness, the permeability of the lixiviant
was retarded with drastic fall in metal dissolution. The bio-recovery
was found to be 91% in 30 days at 1.7 pH and 20% (w/v) PD with the ore
particles of 53–45 μm size as compared to 78% uranium bio-

Fig. 6. Uranium recovery and Fe(II) concentration at pH 1.7 (20% PD, b76 μm, 35 °C). Fig. 7. (a–c): Effect of particle size on bio-recovery of uranium at pH 1.7, 35 °C and 20% PD.
74 Abhilash et al. / Hydrometallurgy 95 (2009) 70–75
Fig. 8. (a–c): Effect of variation of Fe(II) concentration with redox potential at different
particle sizes on bio-recovery of uranium at pH 1.7, 35 °C and 20% PD.
As mentioned earlier, A. ferrooxidans produce acid from the sulfide
minerals but some acid must be present initially for driving the leaching
in forward direction. With the low amount of sulfur (0.168%) present in
the uranium ore, auto-generation of acid was expected to be quite low
and thus acid addition (5 M H2SO4) was essential to maintain the pH of
the medium during the bioleaching. The acid requirement at 1.7 pH was
moderately lower at 0.09 M in the solution volume of 200 mL for 40 g
ore, which was 43% lower than that of sterile experiment.
4. Conclusions
A. ferrooxidans from the three uranium mine water samples have
been isolated in 9K media. In 10 days, the bacterial count is found to be
high (7.2 × 107 cells/mL) for the Turamdih mine water as compared to
other mine water samples. The sub-culturing of the isolate of the
Turamdih mine water at 2.0 pH increased the bacterial population to
8.8 × 109 cells/mL. The enriched culture was adapted three times on
the uranium ore at 2.0 pH and its inoculation in the bioleaching
experiment at 1.7 pH, 20% PD and 35 °C temperature in 40 days time
with the mixed particles of b76 μm size gave 98% uranium recovery.
Effect of particle size variation showed higher uranium dissolution
(91%) with the medium size particles in the range 53–45 μm at 1.7 pH
in 35 days as compared to the coarser (76–53 μm) and finer size
(b45 μm) fractions. High metal recovery with the mixed size particles
(b76 μm) may be attributed by the better permeability of ferric ions in
iron silicate matrix to dissolve uranium. Recovery of uranium may be
correlated with the values of redox potential acquired during the
experiments. Under the optimum condition at 1.7 pH and 35 °C
temperature, rise in redox potential was recorded to be 595–715 mV
in 40 days. Bioleaching of uranium appeared to follow the indirect
mechanism with the involvement of Fe(III) biogenically generated by
the bacteria.
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the Director, NML Jamshedpur for
giving permission to publish the paper. Help received from Shri A. K.
Giri (Analytical Chemistry Centre, NML) for chemical analysis of base
metals is also acknowledged.
References
Akcil, A., 2004. Technical note: potential bioleaching developments towards commercial
reality. Minerals Engineering 17, 477–480.
Anderson, R.T., Lovley, D.R., 2002. Microbial redox interactions with uranium, an
environmental perspective. In: Roach, M.J.K., Levins, F.R. (Eds.), Interaction of
Microorganism with Radionuclides. Elsevier Science Ltd., Chapter-7, pp. 205–223.
Bonk, T.T., Meijer, W.M., Hazen, W., Van Dijken, J.P., Bos, D., Kuenen, J.G., 1997. Growth of
Thiobacillus ferrooxidans on formic acid. Applied Environmental Microbiology 57(7),
2057–2062.
Brierley, J.A., Brierley, C.L., 2001. Present and future commercial application of
biohydrometallurgy. Hydrometallurgy 59, 233–239.
Cabral, T., Ignatiadis, I., 2001. Mechanistic study of the pyrite–solution interface during
the oxidative bacterial dissolution of pyrite (FeS2) by using electrochemical
techniques. International Journal of Mineral Processing 62, 41–64.
Choi, M.S., Cho, K.S., Kim, D.S., Regu, H.W., 2005. Bioleaching of uranium from low grade
black schists by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. World Journal of Microbiology and
Biotechnology 21(3), 377–380.
Daoud, J., Karamanev, D., 2006. Formation of jarosite during Fe2+ oxidation by Aci-
dithiobacillus ferrooxidans. Minerals Engineering 19, 960–967.
Devasia, P., Natarajan, K.A., 2004. Bacterial leaching—biotechnology in the mining
industry. Resonance 27, 27–34.
DiSpirito, A.A., Tuovinen, O.H., 1982. Uranous ion oxidation and carbon dioxide fixation
by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans. Archives of Microbiology 133 (1), 28–32.
Dutrizac, J.E., MacDonald, R.J.C., 1974. Ferric iron as a leaching medium. Mineral Science
Engineering 6, 59–62.
Dwivedy, K.K., Mathur, A.K., 1995. Bioleaching — our experience. Hydrometallurgy 38,
99–109.
Ehrlich, H.L., 1997. Mini review — microbes and metals. Applied Microbiology and
Biotechnology 48, 687–692.
Ehrlich, H.L., 2001. Past, present and future of biohydrometallurgy. Hydrometallurgy 59,
127–134.
Fletcher, J.R., 1970. Metal mining from low-grade ore by bacterial leaching. Mining and
Metallurgical Processing 79, 247–252.
Garcia-Junior, O., 1993. Bacterial leaching of uranium ore from Figueira-PR, Brazil, at
laboratory and pilot scale. FEMS Microbiology Reviews 11, 237–242.
Guay, R., Silver, M., Torma, A.E., 1977. Ferrous iron oxidation and uranium extraction by
Thiobacillus ferrooxidans. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 19 (5), 727–740.
Gupta, R., Pandey, V.M., Pranesh, S.R., Chakravarty, A.B., 2004. Study of an improved
technique for precipitation of uranium from eluted solution. Hydrometallurgy 71,
429–434.
Hansford, G.S., Vargas, T., 2001. Chemical and electrochemical basis of bioleaching
processes. Hydrometallurgy 59, 135–145.
Hutchins, S.R., Davidson, M.S., Brierley, J.A., Brierley, C.A., 1986. Microorganisms in
reclamation of metals. Annual Review of Microbiology 40, 311–336.
Lundgren, D.G., Silver, M., 1980. Ore leaching by bacteria. Annual Review of
Microbiology 34, 263–283.
Mathur, A.K., Dwivedy, K.K., 1994. Microbial leaching of uranium from low grade ores: a
review. Journal of Atomic Mineral Science 2, 131–142.
Mathur, A.K., Viswamohan, K., Mohanty, K.B., Murthy, V.K., Seshadrinath, S.T., 2000.
Uranium extraction using biogenic ferric sulfate: a case study on quartz chlorite ore
 Abhilash et al. / Hydrometallurgy 95 (2009) 70–75
from Jaduguda, Singhbhum Thrust Belt (STB), Bihar, India. Minerals Engineering
13 (5), 575–579.
McCready, R.G.L., Gould, W.D., 1990. Bioleaching of uranium. In: Ehrlich, H.L., Brierley, C.L.
(Eds.), Microbial Mineral Recovery. McGraw Hill, New York, USA, pp. 107–125.
McCready, R.G.L., Wadden, D., Marchbank, A., 1986. Nutrient requirements for the in-
place leaching of uranium by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans. Hydrometallurgy 17, 61–71.
Mehta, K.D., Pandey, B.D., Mankhand, T.R., 2003. Studies on kinetics of biodissolution of
metals from Indian Ocean nodules. Minerals Engineering 16 (6), 523–527.
Muňoz, J.A., Blasquez, M.L., Ballester, A., Gonzalez, F., 1995a. A study of the bioleaching of a
Spanish uranium ore, Part II: orbital shaker experiments. Hydrometallurgy 38, 59–78.
Muňoz, J.A., Blasquez, M.L., Ballester, A., Gonzalez, F., 1995b. A study of the bioleaching
of a Spanish uranium ore, Part III: column experiments. Hydrometallurgy 38, 79–97.
Natarajan, K.A. (Ed.), 1994. Biohydrometallurgy: Theory and Practice, Proc. Short Term
Intensive Course, IISC Bangalore, India.
Price, R.R., Blaise, J.R., Vance, R.E., 2004. Uranium production and demand. NEA News
22, 1–5.
75
Rawlings, D.E., Silver, S., 1995. Mining with microbes. Journal of Biotechnology 13,
773–778.
Sand, W., Gehrke, T., Jozsa, P.G., Schippers, A., 2001. Biochemistry of bacterial leaching-
direct vs. indirect bioleaching. Hydrometallurgy 59, 159–175.
Tuovinen, O.H., 1972. Microbiological aspects in the leaching of uranium by Thiobacillus
ferrooxidans. Atomic Energy Review IAEA Pub 10, 251–258.
Tuovinen, O.H., Kelly, D.P., 1974. Studies on the growth of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans—II:
toxicity of uranium to growing cultures and tolerance conferred by mutation, other
metal cations and EDTA. Archives of Microbiology 95 (1), 17–28.
Tuovinen, O.H., Hsu, C.J., 1984. Effect of pH, iron concentration, and pulp density on the
solubilisation of uranium from ore material in chemical and microbiological acid
leach solutions: Regression equation and confidence band analysis. Hydrometal-
lurgy 12, 141–149.