Publications by authors named "Patrick d'Hugues"
Article Synopsis
- A techno-economic study was conducted on bioleaching copper concentrates from black shale ore as part of the Bioshale European project, focusing on the predominant copper sulphides: chalcocite, covellite, bornite, and chalcopyrite.
- Batch bioleaching tests showed a higher copper recovery (>95%) compared to continuous tests (91%), with mineralogical analysis indicating incomplete chalcopyrite dissolution in both methods, particularly in continuous conditions.
- The bacterial community structure varied between test types, with more sulphur oxidizers present in batch cultures, suggesting they may enhance chalcopyrite dissolution and improve copper recovery.
Article Synopsis
- - This study examines how a group of bacteria produces exopolysaccharides while extracting cobalt from a specific type of mineral and focuses on a continuous system with multiple bioreactors, presenting challenges in measuring biomolecules in complex bioleached environments.
- - A new method was developed for quantifying sugars in these environments, allowing easy analysis of bioleached samples with minimal preparation, which is important due to the high acidity and iron content present.
- - The results showed that over 80% of sugars were free exopolysaccharides, mostly produced in the first two reactors, but no clear connection was found between sugar levels and bioleaching activity; the exopolysaccharides might also play a role in protecting bacteria from stress
Gram-positive bacteria found as the sole Firmicutes present in two mineral bioleaching stirred tanks, and a third bacterium isolated from a heap leaching operation, were shown to be closely related to each other but distinct from characterized acidophilic iron- and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria of the genus Sulfobacillus, to which they were affiliated. One of the isolates (BRGM2) was shown to be a thermo-tolerant (temperature optimum 38.5 degrees C, and maximum 47 degrees C) obligate acidophile (pH optimum 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiological autotrophic sulfur oxidation processes have been proposed to remove heavy metals from wastewater treatment sludge by bioleaching. We made a characterization of the microbial population in batch and continuous sludge bioleaching reactors using fluorescent in situ hybridization of fluorescently-labeled oligonucleotidic probes targeting rRNA in a 'top to bottom approach'. Batch incubations of sludge with 0.
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