Sequential hydrotalcite precipitation, microbial sulfate reduction and in situ hydrogen sulfide removal process for neutral mine drainage treatment
The microbial communities in this submission are related to a three-stage sequential process for treating neutral mine drainage (NMD) generated from an open pit gold mine in Australia. The process consisted of a hydrotalcite (HT) chemical precipitation step (Stage 1); a low-cost organic carbon substrate (mixture of a native wetland plant - Typha spp. residue, and a locally-sourced Eucalyptus woodchip)-driven microbial sulfate reduction step (Stage 2); and a final in-situ sulfide removal step with a permeable iron (Fe)-rich ferrosol soil matrix (Stage 3). The process was designed and operated with hydraulic settings emulating a constructed wetland (CW) system to be deployed at the mine site.