Bioleaching of a manganese and silver Ore

The bioleaching with a strain of Thiobacillus thiooxidans of the ore of Farallon Negro (Catamarca, Argentina) was studied in order to estimate its application to the solution and recovery of the manganese, and to improve the silver extraction. The State company which works the mine has not yet found an economical process to extract the manganese and has only reached a 30% efficiency in the recovery of silver by cianuration. The effects of pulp density variations and the addition of different quantities of FeS were analysed looking for the best working conditions. 74 μm (mesh Tyler 200) of ore particles were used because that is the size used in this plant for the cianuration process. (Author)