Scientific Research Geotechnological Center, Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia

V. A. Iodis, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Leading Researcher, e-mail: iodisva@mail.ru
S. O. Ocheretyana, Candidate of Biological Sciences, Senior Researcher, e-mail: blossom-so@yandex.ru

Biogeotechnologies occupy an important place in the industrial processing of mineral resources, especially in the extraction of metals from ores. The work investigated the process of bacterial-chemical leaching of nickel, copper and cobalt from sulfide ore using step-by-step ultrasonic treatment of both the bacterial suspension and the ore pulp. Two experiments were carried out. In the first experiment, the ore pulp (28.0 W/cm², 22 kHz, 30 min.) and the bacterial suspension (0.5 W/cm², 40 kHz, 5, 10, 20 min.) were treated with ultrasound in stages, and then mixed, carried out bacterial-chemical leaching of nickel, copper and cobalt for 18 days. The second experiment was carried out for 7 days to study the effect of ultrasonic exposure on the vital activity of chemolithotrophic microorganisms used in the experiment. Ultrasonic processing of ore pulp took place in the flow chamber of the installed installation. Ultrasonic treatment of the bacterial suspension was carried out in an UltraSonic PS-40 ultrasonic bath. The bacterial-chemical leaching process was carried out in flasks installed in an ES-20/80 Biosan shaker-incubator. The experimental results show that with increasing duration of ultrasonic exposure on a bacterial suspension, the process of bacterial-chemical leaching occurs more intensely, with greater extraction of target metals, which is associated with stimulation of the growth and vital activity of microorganisms by ultrasonic exposure. The extraction of target metals without the use of ultrasonic action on a bacterial suspension has much lower values – 2.07 times less for nickel, 1.1 times less for copper and 2.09 times less for cobalt. Experiments have shown that the chemical treatment of sulfide cobalt-copper-nickel ore of the Shanuch deposit with a S : L ratio of ore pulp of 1 : 5 and a S : L ratio of bacterial suspension pulp of 1 : 8 is appropriate for obtaining polymetallic solutions rich in composition.

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