Bioleaching and beneficiation of agbaja iron ore using Providencia vermicola KUBT-1 under varying process conditions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17159/Abstract
In this study, the efficacy of Providencia vermicola KUBT-1 in the leaching and beneficiation of Agbaja iron ore was evaluated under varying conditions of temperature, ore particle size and pH. Agbaja iron ore is a Nigerian low grade ore containing about 43-52% iron and high amount of gangue materials including phosphorus (1.4-2.0%) and sulphur (0.12%). The study was organized in triplicates in shake flasks with a total of 48 samples. One millilitre of washed cells of Providencia vermicola KUBT-1 suspended in normal saline at 0.5 McFarland standard (108 cells ml-1) was introduced into each flask containing 50g of sterilized ore in 100ml of bioleaching medium and the samples incubated at room temperature (250C – 300C) for eight weeks. The levels of upgraded iron and mobilized sulphur and phosphorus were determined by Atomic Absorption and Ultraviolet Spectrophotometric analyses respectively. Results obtained showed that a particle size of 0.8mm was optimal for iron upgrading and sulphur mobilization while 1.0mm ore size was optimal for phosphorus mobilization. Up to 89.60% of the iron was upgraded while phosphorus and sulphur were mobilized leaving residual values of 0.223% and 0.02% respectively in the ore. The organism produced best beneficiation results at a pH of 2.5 and a temperature of 30oC. Correlation analysis with the Pearson’s correlation model showed a positive correlation between iron upgrading and sulphur-phosphorus removal (r =1.000, and r =0.967) respectively. These results present Providencia vermicola KUBT-1 as a promising candidate for large scale leaching and beneficiation of Agbaja iron ore.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Chibuzor Nwadibe Eze, Maria Nneka Ugwoji, Obianuju Nnabuife, Simeon Chukwuemeka Enemuor, Vanessa Okechukwu, Christian Kelechi Ezeh
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
THE INSTITUTE, AS A BODY, IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE STATEMENTS AND OPINIONS ADVANCED IN ANY OF ITS PUBLICATIONS.
Copyright© 1978 by The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. All rights reserved. Multiple copying of the contents of this publication or parts thereof without permission is in breach of copyright, but permission is hereby given for the copying of titles and abstracts of papers and names of authors. Permission to copy illustrations and short extracts from the text of individual contributions is usually given upon written application to the Institute, provided that the source (and where appropriate, the copyright) is acknowledged. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of review or criticism under The Copyright Act no. 98, 1978, Section 12, of the Republic of South Africa, a single copy of an article may be supplied by a library for the purposes of research or private study. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the publishers. Multiple copying of the contents of the publication without permission is always illegal.
U.S. Copyright Law applicable to users In the U.S.A.
The appearance of the statement of copyright at the bottom of the first page of an article appearing in this journal indicates that the copyright holder consents to the making of copies of the article for personal or internal use. This consent is given on condition that the copier pays the stated fee for each copy of a paper beyond that permitted by Section 107 or 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law. The fee is to be paid through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., Operations Center, P.O. Box 765, Schenectady, New York 12301, U.S.A. This consent does not extend to other kinds of copying, such as copying for general distribution, for advertising or promotional purposes, for creating new collective works, or for resale.
