Biohydrometallurgy applied to exploitation of black shale resources: Overview of Bioshale FP6 European project

doi:10.1016/S1003-6326(09)60030-3

Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China

Volume 18, Issue 6, December 2008, Pages 1485-1490

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1003-6326(09)60030-3 Get rights and content

Abstract

Bioshale project, co-funded by the European Commission (FP6 programme), started in October 2004 and finished in October 2007. The main objective of this project was to define innovative biotechnological processes for “eco-efficient” exploitation of black shale ores. The black shale ores contain base, precious and high-tech metals but also high contents of organic matter that handicap metal recovery by conventional techniques. Three world class black shale deposits were chosen as targets of the R&D actions. These include one deposit that existed under natural conditions (Talvivaara, Finland), one currently in process (Lubin, Poland) and one after mining (Mansfeld, Germany). The main technical aspects of the work plan can be summarized as follows: evaluation of the geological resources and selection of metal-bearing components; selection of biological consortia to be tested for metal recovery; assessment of bioprocessing routes, including hydrometallurgical processing for metals recovery; techno-economic evaluation of new processes including social and environmental impacts. An overview of the main results obtained by the 13 European partners (from 8 countries) involved in this completed research programme is given in this work.

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Cited by (10)

Review of the extraction of key metallic values from black shales in relation to their geological and mineralogical properties
2021, Minerals Engineering
Citation Excerpt :
Nevertheless, coal flotation is a complex process and depends on a large number of raw material parameters, such as adsorption properties, oxidation (weathering) of coal, porosity, particle size, etc. (Fuerstenau and Pradip, 1982; Polat et al., 2003). Regardless of the somewhat similar aim—separation of OM and sulfides—flotation has been regarded as inefficient in the case of black shales (D’hugues et al., 2008; Petersell et al., 1991; Puritch et al., 2010). However, the latter eventually depends on the specific ore type (Kamradt et al., 2018, 2012).
The aim of this paper is to provide geologists, metallurgical engineers, or mineral resource strategists with a first overview of the currently available state-of-the-art knowledge of the extraction of key metallic values from black shales. The key metallic values considered were vanadium (V), molybdenum (Mo), uranium (U), nickel (Ni), zinc (Zn), as well as platinum group elements and gold. First, a global geological and mineralogical overview is given. Following this, each technological approach is explained and, finally, a summary is provided. Each topic also includes brief overview of the possible environmental impacts. All information was sourced from academic papers, patents, and technological reports. The main conclusions are: (i) black shales are enriched in different sets of metals, yet the V-Mo-U-Ni-Zn association is relatively universal, (ii) mineralization is mostly disseminated and rocks are very fine grained, (iii) hosts of key metals are either sulfides of organometallic complexes, V is often associated with silicates, (iv) the latter 3 along with additional factors result in poor opportunities for beneficiation (flotation, etc.), (v) extraction methods range from conventional hydrometallurgy, bio-leaching, and in-situ leaching in many combinations with roasting, microwave, autoclave or other aiding steps. The final choice of technology is site-specific and there are no rule-of-thumb solutions. There is only one fully operational production unit that exploits black shale as a raw material – Talvivaara/Terrafame in central Finland.
Prediction and optimization studies for bioleaching of molybdenite concentrate using artificial neural networks and genetic algorithm
2019, Minerals Engineering
Citation Excerpt :
There has been much interest in the development of bio-hydrometallurgical methods for the extraction of copper and other elements from sulfide minerals because they have many advantages over the more traditional pyrometallurgical techniques, which include reduced emissions to air, simplicity of operation, low cost and applicability to low-value ores or mineral resources that cannot be treated by conventional mining techniques (Brierley and Brierley, 2001; Akcil, 2004; D'Hugues and Spolaore, 2008; Anjum et al., 2010; Brierley, 2010; Castro et al., 2013).
This paper presents the application of an artificial neural network (ANN) in order to predict the effects of operational parameters on the dissolution of Cu, Mo and Re from molybdenite concentrate through meso-acidophilic bioleaching. The initial pH, solid concentration, inoculum percent and time (days) were used as inputs to the network. The outputs of the models included the percent of Cu, Mo and Re recovered. The development and training of a feed-forward back-propagation artificial neural network (BPNN) was used to model and predict their recoveries. 105 sets of data were used to develop the neural network architecture and train it. To reach the network with highest generalizability, the space of neural networks with different hidden layers (one up to three hidden layers) and with the varying number of neurons each layer were searched. As a result, it was found that (4-5-5-2-1); (4-7-5-2-1) and (4-7-1-1-1) arrangements could give the most accurate prediction for Cu, Mo and Re extraction respectively. The regression analysis of the models tested gave a good correlation coefficient of 0.99968, 0.99617 and 0.99768 respectively for Cu, Mo and Re recoveries. The results demonstrated that ANN has a good potential to predict Cu, Mo and Re recoveries. Also, genetic algorithm (GA) was used to find out the optimum levels of parameters in the best models defined by ANN. The maximum recovery of Cu, Mo and Re on the 30th day were nearly 73%, 2.8% and 27.17% respectively.
Simulated heap leaching and recovery of multiple elements from a mineralised black shale
2017, Hydrometallurgy
Citation Excerpt :
Genesis and weathering of black shales is a much researched topic of interest to geochemists and soil scientists (e.g., Grauch and Huyck, 1989; Petsch et al., 2005; Tuttle et al., 2009). However, in recent years there has also been strong interest in the hydrometallurgical extraction of metals from black shales leading to a number of multi-element commercial-scale developments (Li et al., 2010; Riekkola-Vanhanen, 2010; Sabag, 2008; Beeson and Goodall, 2014; Continental Precious Minerals Inc., 2013; Western Areas Ltd., 2012) and laboratory- or pilot-scale research projects (d'Hugues et al., 2008a,b; Anjum et al., 2009, 2010). Black shales differ from less complex ores in their chemical properties and recovery of metals.
A pyritic, mineralised black-shale was used as a ‘research resource’ to investigate the range of elements amenable to acid and/or bioleaching, despite most elements not being present in economic concentrations. The shale was acid producing and amenable to heap bioleaching. Bioleaching of crushed shale in columns resulted in increased extraction of 44 out of 54 elements assayed, compared with an abiotic acid-leaching test. The importance of the microbial community in respect of heap closure was highlighted by the extent of pyrite oxidation during bioleaching (90%) compared with acid (abiotic) leaching. The leaching phase in a heap should be continued until the pyrite has been oxidised to minimise future acid generation within, and drainage from, the heap, whether or not the cost of continued heap management can be justified by further metals extraction.
Biohydrometallurgy techniques of low grade ores: A review on black shale
2012, Hydrometallurgy
Citation Excerpt :
The recovery of metals from these ores, shale and schist, etc., using conventional technologies, is not only very expensive due to capital investments and less favorable economics, but also increasing the environmental costs due to high levels of pollution (Mishra et al., 2004; Pradhan et al., 2006). Biohydrometallurgical methods for processing and remediation are less energy intensive and eco-friendly and no emission of any harmful gas or chemical in the environment than any other conventional chemical methods (Akcil, 2004; Anjum et al., 2010a; Brierley, 2010; D'Hugues and Spolaore, 2008; Rawlings, 2004). Bioleaching is a specialized biohydrometallurgical process.
The demand for metals is ever increasing with the advancement of the industrialized world. On the other hand, worldwide reserves of high grade ores are close to depletion. However, there exists a large reserve of metals in low and lean grade ores and other secondary sources. Metal recovery from low and lean grade ores using conventional techniques such as pyrometallurgy, etc. requires high energy and capital inputs which often result in the secondary environmental pollution. Thus, there is a need to utilize more efficient technologies to recover metals. Biohydrometallurgy, which exploits microbiological processes to recover metal ions, is regarded as one of the most promising and revolutionary biotechnologies. The products of such processes are dissolved in aqueous solution, thereby rendering them more amenable to containment, treatment and recovery. On top of this, biohydrometallurgy can be conducted under mild conditions, usually without the use of any toxic chemicals. Consequently, the application of biohydrometallurgy in the recovery of metals from lean grade ores and wastes has made it an eco-friendly technology for enhanced metal production. This paper reviews the current status of biohydrometallurgy of low grade ores around the world. Particular attention is focused on the bioleaching of black shale ore and its metallogenic diversity in the world. The review assesses the status of bioprocesssing of metals to evaluate promising developments. Bioleaching of metals is comprehensively reviewed with the emphasis on the contribution of microbial community, especially fungal bioleaching coupled with ultrasound treatment. In this manuscript, the principles of bioleaching, their mechanisms, and commercial applications are presented. The case studies and future technology directions are also reviewed.
Effects of conventional flotation frothers on the population of mesophilic microorganisms in different cultures
2019, Processes
Behaviour of metals during bioheap leaching at the Talvivaara mine, Finland
2018, Geosciences (Switzerland)

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Biohydrometallurgy applied to exploitation of black shale resources: Overview of Bioshale FP6 European project

Abstract

Hydrometallurgy

Minerals Engineering

Bioshale FP6 European project: exploiting black shale ores using biotechnologies? [J]

Minerals Engineering

Comparison of kinetics of black shale bioleaching process using stationary and agitated systems [J]

Physicochemical Problems of Mineral Processing