Bioprocessing of nickeliferous sulphidic wastes from mining activities

我们建议调查生物处理的冶金废物流产生的Xstrata镍冶炼业务在萨德伯里，安大略，即含镍的磁黄铁矿精矿的顺从性。 这是一种铁硫矿物（约。化学计量Fe 1-xS），因为其不适合熔炼而被丢弃。大量的储存在水下的池塘里。废弃的磁黄铁矿在固溶体中含有约1%重量的镍，这些镍从Xstrata的潜在生产能力中损失，并因具有巨大的酸性矿山排水潜力而造成环境风险。该概念是开发一种使用工业残余物作为进料以回收有价值的资源（即，镍）并降低残留物的毒性。除了饲料是加拿大的资源，不需要额外的开采。 我们建议协助发展新技术，以低成本方法处理这些废物。这是在铜和金提取领域生物技术最新进展的基础上进行生物处理，但不包括镍，而是采用细菌辅助浸出。这种技术将为加拿大广泛的生物沥滤作业开辟道路，并通过低成本和对环境负责的工艺振兴矿产经济。该项目汇集了五个合作伙伴，即Xstrata Nickel，安大略卓越中心，采矿创新卓越中心和NSERC，作为资助机构，多伦多大学作为研究的执行者。 多伦多大学的湿法冶金、生物修复和代谢建模小组将合作开展跨学科研究工作。 三名MASc学生，一名PDF和至少两名本科生将在为期两年的协作环境和最先进的生物加工设施中接受培训。

We propose to investigate the amenability to bio-processing of a metallurgical waste stream produced by the Xstrata Nickel smelting operations in Sudbury, Ontario, namely nickeliferous pyrrhotite concentrate. This is an iron-sulphur mineral (approx. stoichiometry Fe1-xS) that is rejected because it is unsuitable for smelting. Large quantities are stored in ponds under water. The rejected pyrrhotite contains about 1%wt of nickel in solid solution which is lost from Xstrata's potential production capacity and poses an environmental risk by having an enormous potential for acid mine drainage. The concept is the development of a process using an industrial residue as the feed material to recover a valuable resource (i.e., nickel) and reduce the toxicity of the residue. Apart from the feed being a Canadian resource, no additional mining is required. We propose to assist the development of new technology to treat this waste stream by a low-cost process. That is by bioprocessing based on recent advances in biotechnology in the areas of copper and gold extraction, but not on nickel, by employing bacterially assisted leaching. Such technology will open the road for widespread bio-leach operations in Canada, and revitalize the minerals economy by low-cost and environmentally responsible processes. The project brings together five partners, namely Xstrata Nickel, the Ontario Centers of Excellence, the Center for Excellence in Mining Innovation and NSERC, as funding agencies and the University of Toronto as the executioner of the research. The hydrometallurgy, bioremediation and metabolic modelling groups of the University of Toronto will team-up and engage in an interdisciplinary research effort. Three MASc students, one PDF and at least two undergraduate students will be trained in a collaborative environment and state-of-the-art bioprocessing facilities over a period of two years.