A study on the zinc sulfide dissolution kinetics with biological and chemical ferric reagents

- Two-steps bioleaching could be used to decrease the leaching time from several days down to few minutes.
- The biological ferric (produced by biooxidation) could be applied for zinc recovery from sphalerite.
- The ZnS dissolution kinetic mechanism with biological ferric change from interfacial transfer to diffusion-control
- ZnS dissolution with ferric sulfate would follow diffusion-control mechanism.
- The sulfur layer formation in the minerals surface controls the ZnS dissolution.