L2M NSERC -Enzymatic Biooxidation Technology (EnBiTe) for recovery of Gold

通过生物浸出和生物氧化，通过选矿过程从矿石和废流中回收所需的金属，对环境的影响较小，成本较低。该技术的工艺技术和有效实施正在全球范围内得到研究和发展。传统的采矿方法，如氰化、火法冶金、密集加热(焙烧)和高压燃烧矿石样品，不能廉价地从硫化物矿物基质中提金。当包括高通量细菌生长数据和提取和回收方法的过程信息时，生物氧化过程变得更具成本效益和效率。生物氧化难处理金矿有效回收金是本项目的主题，将涵盖该领域的重大成果和突破，以及相关的产业和学术研究。为此，将在实验室和半中试规模(柱试验和搅拌反应器)中对实验和使用微生物进行评估，以获得最大效率。尽管微生物辅助生物氧化的实验结果可能会令人感兴趣，但低温条件下生物氧化的挑战尚未得到解决，需要更多的研究来克服这一问题。在寒冷的环境中使用生物氧化可能会导致相当大的运营和劳动密集型成本，以及供暖成本。最好的策略是聘请一家将这些费用保持在最低水平的公司，因为这符合政府和商业部门的利益。在加拿大，由于堆和反应堆的容量很大，控制温度和供暖费用可能很困难。因此，在本研究项目中，开发了一种新的酶生物氧化技术(Enzymatic BioOxation Technology，EnBiTe®)单元，并将其用于使堆和反应器独立于微生物的活动，从而使温度独立于温度。对该流程的整体市场评价表明，采用该方法，可快速地引进最低金品位为0.3g/吨的矿样，与以往的方法相比成本较低。

With bioleaching and biooxidation, the required metals are recovered from ores and waste streams with less environmental impact and cheaper costs through mineral processes. The process technology and effective implementation of this technique are being studied and developed all around the globe. Conventional mining methods, such as cyanidation, pyrometallurgy, intensive heating (roasting), and combustion of ore samples under high pressure, cannot inexpensively extract gold from a sulfide-based mineral matrix. The biooxidation process becomes more cost-effective and efficient when high-throughput bacterial growth data and process information on extraction and recovery methods are included. Biooxidation of refractory gold ores for effective gold recovery is the subject of this project, which will cover significant achievements and breakthroughs in the area as well as related industry and academic research. To do so, the experiment and working with the microorganisms will be assessed in both laboratory and semi-pilot scales (column tests and stirred reactor) to obtain the maximum efficiency. Although the experimental results from microorganism-assisted biooxidation might be of interest, the challenge of biooxidation under cold conditions has not yet been addressed and more research is needed to overcome this issue. Using bio-oxidation in a cold environment may lead to considerable operational and labor-intensive expenses, as well as heating costs. The best strategy is to employ one that keeps these expenses to a minimum as it is of interest to both the government and the business sector. Controlling temperature and heating expenses may be difficult in Canada because of the large capacity of the heap and reactor. Therefore, in this research project, a new Enzymatic Biooxidation Technology (EnBiTe®) unit is developed and used to make the heap and reactor independent of microorganisms' activity and consequently temperature. The overall market assessment of the proposed process showed that by implementing this method, the ore sample with the minimum gold grade of 0.3 g/ton could be quickly introduced at a lower cost compared to the previous methods.