Bioleaching of some Rare Earth Elements from Egyptian Monazite using Aspergillus ficuum and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Wesam Abdel Ghany HASSANIEN; Osman Abdel Naby DESOUKY; Shimaa Salah Eldien HUSSIEN

Authors

Wesam Abdel Ghany HASSANIEN Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Zagazig University
Osman Abdel Naby DESOUKY Nuclear Materials Authority, El-Maadi, Cairo
Shimaa Salah Eldien HUSSIEN Nuclear Materials Authority, El-Maadi, Cairo

Keywords:

Monazite, rare earth elements, bioleaching, Aspergillus ficuum, Pesudomonas aeruginosa, chemical leaching

Abstract

Aspergillus ficuum and Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibit good potential in generating varieties of organic acids effective for bioleaching some rare earth elements (REEs) from Egyptian monazite (purity 97 %) and (thorium-uranium) concentrate. Batch experiments are performed to compare the bioleaching efficiencies of the one and 2-step bioleaching processes. The highest percentages of bioleached REEs from monazite and (Th-U) concentrate directly by A. ficuum are found to be 75.4, 63.8 % at a pulp density 0.6, 1.2 % (w/v), respectively, after 9 days of incubation at 30 °C and 63.5, 52.6 % by P. aeruginosa after 8 days of incubation at 35 °C using a shaking incubator at 175 rpm. It is also found that 14.3 and 1.4 g/l of citric and oxalic acid, respectively, are produced by A. ficuum, while 6.3 g/l of 2-ketogluconic acid is produced by P. aeruginosa. The highest percentages of chemical leaching of REEs from 0.6 % monazite using citric acid 14.3 g/l, oxalic acid 1.4 g/l, citric/oxalic acids 15.7 g/l and 2- ketogluconic acid 6.3 g/l after 24 h are 55.7, 26.0, 58.8 and 45.6 %, respectively. This work addresses the area of beneficiation of the used mineral to solubilize REEs through the biotechnological route in Egypt, where the bioleaching method is more effective than the chemical one using organic acids.

doi:10.14456/WJST.2014.85

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

N Pradhan, KC Nathasarma, K Srinivasa Rao, LB Sukla and BK Mishra. Heap bioleaching of chalopyrite: A review. Min. Eng. 2008; 21, 355-65.

DE Rawlings and DB Johnson. The microbiology of biomining: development and optimization of mineral-oxidizing microbial consortia. Microbiology 2007; 153, 315-24.

MI Castro, JLR Fietto, RX Viera, MJM Tropia, LMM Campos, EB Paniago and RL Brandặo. Bioleaching of zinc and nickel from silicates using Aspergillus niger cultures. Hydrometallurgy 2000; 57, 39-49.

JK Joona, JS Mikko, JHH Hanna and KTT Simo. Measuring photodarking from single-mode yetterbium doped silica fibers. Opt. Exp. 2006; 14, 11539-44.

M Valix, F Usai and R Malik. Fungal bio-leaching of low grade laterite ores. Min. Eng. 2001; 14, 197-203.

AI Busev, VG Tiptsova and VM Ivanov. Analytical Chemistry of Rare Elements. 1st ed. Mir Publishers, Moscow, 1981.

KB Oujezdsky, SN Grove and PJ Szaniszlo. Morphological and structural changes during the yeast-to-mold conversion of Phialophora dermatitidis. J. Bacteriol. 1972; 113, 468-77.

H Mostafa. Zytgomycetes, Fungi of Egypt AUMC Descriptions NO. 1. Assiut University Mycological Center (AUMC), Assiut, Egypt, 2006.

WA Hassanien. Molecular identification of antibiotics resistance Pseudomonas aeruginosa wt. Aust. J. Bas. Appl. Sci. 2009; 3, 2144-53.

JG Holt, NR Krieg, PHA Sneath, JT Staley, ST Williams. Bergy's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology. 9th ed. Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore, USA, 1994.

KMM Aung and YP Ting. Bioleaching of spent fluid catalytic cracking catalyst using Aspergillus niger. J. Biotechnol. 2005; 116, 159-70.

J Lodder and NJW Kreger-vanrij. The Yeasts, A Taxonomic Study. 1st ed. North Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1967.

YH WU and PY Ting. Metal extraction from municipal solid waste (MSW) incinerator fly ash-Chemical leaching and fungal bioleaching. Enzyme Microb. Tech. 2006; 38, 839-47.

P Vays and A Gulati. Organic acid production in vitro and plant growth promotion in maize under controlled environment by phosphate-solubilizing fluorescent Pseudomonas. BMC Microbiol. 2009; 9, 174-88.

Q Wang, J Yang, Q Wang and T Wu. Effects of water-washing pretreatment on bioleaching of heavy metals from municipal solid waste incinerator fly ash. J. Hazard. Mater. 2009; 162, 812-8.

EB Kalinowski, A Oskarsson, Y Albinsson, J Arlinger, AO Degaard-Jensen, T Andlid and K Pedersen. Microbial leaching of uranium and other trace elements from shale mine tailings at Ranstad. Geoderma 2004; 122, 177-94.

XW Ren, PJ Li and JXGY Li. Biological leaching of heavy metals from a contaminated soil by Aspergillus niger. J. Hazard. Mater. 2009; 167,164-9.

OA Desouky. 1998, Solvent extraction mechanism study on uranium and thorium from sulfuric acid solution and its technological application. M. Sc. thesis, Zagazig University, Banha, Egypt.

W Burgstaller and F Schinner. Leaching of metal with fungi. J. Biotechnol. 1993; 27, 91-116.

M Nemati, J Lowenadler and STL Harrison. Particle size effects in bioleaching of pyrite by acidophilic thermophilic Sulfolobus metallicus (BC). Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 2000; 53,173-9.

H Brandl. Microbial Leaching of Metals. In: HJ Rehm and G Reed. (eds.). Biotechnology. Special Processes, Vol 10, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2001.

J Yang, Q Wang and T Wu. Comparisons of one-step and two-step bioleaching for heavy metals removal from municipal solid waste incineration fly ash. Environ. Eng. Sci. 2008; 25, 783-9.

KJ Hong, S Tokunaga, Y Ishigami and T Kajiuchi. Extraction of heavy metals from MSW incinerator fly ash using saponins. Chemosphere 2000; 41, 345-352.

TJ Xu YP Ting. Fungal bioleaching of incineration fly ash: metal extraction and modeling growth kinetics. Enzyme Microb. Tech. 2009; 44, 323-8.

BW Strobel. Influence of vegetation on low-molecular-weight carboxylic acids in soil solution-a review. Geoderma 2001; 99, 169-98.

WK Goyne, LS Brantley and J Chorover. Rare earth element release from phosphate minerals in the presence of organic acids. Chem. Geol. 2010; 278, 1-14.

SA Wasay, SF Barrington and S Tokunaga. Organic acids for the in situ remediation of soils polluted by heavy metals: soil flushing in columns. Water Air Soil Poll. 2001; 127, 301-14.

Y Ghorbani, M Oliazadeh, A Shahvedi, R Roohi and A Pirayehgar. Use of some isolated fungi in biological leaching of aluminum from low grade bauxite. Afr. J. Biotechnol. 2007; 11, 1284-8.

PP Bosshard, R Bachofen and H Brandl. Metal leaching of fly ash from municipal waste incineration by Aspergillus niger. Environ. Sci. Tech. 1996; 30, 3066-70.

S Silver and LT Phung. Bacterial heavy metal resistance: New surprises. Ann. Rev. Microbiol. 1996; 50, 45-60.

CN Mulligan and GR Cloutier. Bioremediation of metal contamination. Environ. Monit. Assess. 2003; 84, 45-60.

AB Johnson, N Okibe, K Wakeman and L Yajie. Effect of temperature on the bioleaching of chalcopyrite concentrates containing different concentrations of silver. Hydrometallurgy 2008; 94, 42-7.

NM Mulligan, K Mahtab and FG Bernard. Bioleaching of heavy metals from a low-grade mining ore using Aspergillus niger. J. Hazard. Mater. 2004; 110, 77-84.