Adaptation of a mixed culture of acidophiles for a tank biooxidation of refractory gold concentrates containing a high concentration of arsenic

• Tank biooxidation was used for gold concentrates with high arsenic (As) content.
• Synergistic effects from each culture lead to better performance in As leaching.
• Adaptation of mixed culture of Acidophiles increased As removal.
• Adapted culture achieved a biooxidation higher than 72% at high As concentrations.

We adapted a mixed culture of acidophiles to high arsenic concentrations to confirm the possibility of achieving more than 70% biooxidation of refractory gold concentrates containing high arsenic (As) concentration. The biooxidation process was applied to refractory gold concentrates containing approximately 139.67 g/kg of total As in a stirred tank reactor using an adapted mixed culture of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans. The percentage of the biooxidation process was analyzed based on the total As removal efficiency. The As removal was monitored by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) analysis, conducted every 24 h. The results obtained with the adapted culture were compared with the percentage of biooxidation obtained with a non-adapted mixed culture of A. ferrooxidans and A. thiooxidans, and with their respective pure cultures. The percentages of biooxidation obtained during 358 h of reaction were 72.20%, 38.20%, 27.70%, and 11.45% for adapted culture, non-adapted culture, and pure cultures of A. thiooxidans and A. ferrooxidans, respectively. The adapted culture showed a peak maximum percentage of biooxidation of 77% at 120 h of reaction, confirming that it is possible to obtain biooxidation percentages over 70% in gold concentrates containing high As concentrations.