title: Column bioleaching of uranium embedded in granite porphyry by a mesophilic acidophilic consortium.
abstract: A mesophilic acidophilic consortium was enriched from acid mine drainage samples collected from several uranium mines in China. The performance of the consortium in column bioleaching of low-grade uranium embedded in granite porphyry was investigated. The influences of several chemical parameters on uranium extraction in column reactor were also investigated. A uranium recovery of 96.82% was achieved in 97 days column leaching process including 33 days acid pre-leaching stage and 64 days bioleaching stage. It was reflected that indirect leaching mechanism took precedence over direct. Furthermore, the bacterial community structure was analyzed by using Amplified Ribosomal DNA Restriction Analysis. The results showed that microorganisms on the residual surface were more diverse than that in the solution. Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans was the dominant species in the solution and Leptospirillum ferriphilum on the residual surface.
authors.affiliation: School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410083, China. qgz@mail.csu.edu
authors.forename: Guanzhou
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Runlan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Zhanxue
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Yajie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Miao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Huaqun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Yage
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yili
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Lingling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Limin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Xueduan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D042763:Acidithiobacillus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D000327:Adsorption; D054458:Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis; D001483:Base Sequence; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008906:Mining; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D014501:Uranium / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; C007886:granite; D014501:Uranium; D012822:Silicon Dioxide