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Post-measurement compressed calibration for ICP-MS-based metal quantification in mine residues bioleaching
Beatriz Rito1, Diogo Almeida1,2, Carina Coimbra1
1Centre for Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Processes, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3000-456, Coimbra, Portugal.
Scientific Reports
|September 27, 2022
Summary
Bioleaching mine tailings using biostimulation effectively removed interfering metals. This resulted in a tenfold increase in critical metals like gallium and yttrium within the residue.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Biotechnology
- Geochemistry
Background:
- Bioleaching offers an economical method for treating mine residues.
- Strategies include metal enrichment in leachate or residue by removing interfering components (IC).
- Panasqueira mine tailings present an opportunity for critical metal recovery.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate metal release from Panasqueira mine tailings via bioprocessing.
- To enhance critical metal concentration in residues by leaching IC.
- To compare biostimulation and bioaugmentation for this purpose.
Main Methods:
- Bioprocessing of mine tailings using biostimulation and bioaugmentation (Diaphorobacter polyhydroxybutyrativorans B2A2W2).
- Analysis of metals in leachate using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS).
- Development of a novel data treatment method for ICP-MS quantification.
Main Results:
- Biostimulation efficiently leached interfering components: silicon, aluminium, magnesium, selenium, manganese, zinc, iron, and copper.
- This leaching led to a 10x relative increase in gallium and yttrium levels in the treated residue.
- The developed ICP-MS data treatment method proved valid and accelerated analysis.
Conclusions:
- Biostimulation is an effective bioleaching strategy for Panasqueira mine tailings.
- This method enhances critical metal concentration in residues by removing interfering elements.
- The study validates a rapid ICP-MS quantification approach for multi-element analysis.
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