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The role of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans in arsenic bioleaching from soil

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Abstract

Bioleaching of As from the soil in an abandoned Ag–Au mine was carried out using Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans. A. ferrooxidans is an iron oxidizer and A. thiooxidans is a sulfur oxidizer. These two microbes are acidophilic and chemoautotrophic microbes. Soil samples were collected from the Myoungbong and Songcheon mines. The main contaminant of the soil was As, with an average concentration of 4,624 mg/kg at Myoungbong and 5,590 mg/kg at Songcheon. A. ferrooxidans and A. thiooxidans generated lower pH conditions during their metabolism process. The bioleaching of As from soil has a higher removal efficiency than chemical leaching. A. ferrooxidans could remove 70 % of the As from the Myoungbong and Songcheon soils; however, A. thiooxidans extracted only 40 % of the As from the Myoungbong soil. This study shows that bioleaching is an effective process for As removal from soil.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), 261 Oryong-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju, 500-712, Republic of Korea

    Myoung-Soo Ko & Kyoung-Woong Kim

  2. Technology Research Center, Mine Reclamation Corporation (MIRECO), Coal Center, 30 Chungjin-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 110-727, Republic of Korea

    Hyun-Sung Park

  3. Department of Energy and Resources Engineering, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 500-757, Republic of Korea

    Jong-Un Lee

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  1. Myoung-Soo Ko
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  2. Hyun-Sung Park
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  3. Kyoung-Woong Kim
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  4. Jong-Un Lee
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Correspondence to Jong-Un Lee.

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Ko, MS., Park, HS., Kim, KW. et al. The role of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans in arsenic bioleaching from soil. Environ Geochem Health 35, 727–733 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-013-9530-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-013-9530-2

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