Bioleaching of mine wastes from the abandoned mining deposits in Slovakia

Sulphidic mining wastes in the form of heaps, dumps and tailings are negative residuals of mining and mineral processing. They are a long-term source of contamination because they are subject to intensive mechanical, chemical and biological transformation processes that result in the leaching of various toxic elements into the environment. However, these mining wastes have a positive side as well. Although they contain low concentrations of toxic elements, they are potentially utilizable as the alternative raw resource of metals include critical metals. There are several technologies for processing mining dumps and heaps. These include the bioleaching with sulphur- and iron-oxidizing bacteria of the genus Acidithiobacillus. The focus of this work was to study the bioleaching of solid mine wastes taken from the mine heap of an abandoned mining area - Zlatá baňa. Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans bacteria were used in the experiments. The tests were carried out in laboratory conditions.