Abstract

By adding suitable amount of amino acid L-cysteine to acidic solution in contact with sphalerite or pyrite,the activity of Thiobacillus Ferrooxidans is largely enhanced. But, at comparable higher concentration of L-cysteine, a deleterious effect on bacterial activity was found, which can be due to the toxic effect of this amino acid at higher concentrations to microbes. The addition of L-methionine would be great inhibition to the bioleaching no matter how much it was applied, which indicates that L-methionine is harmful for bioleaching. The quite different effect on bioleaching between L-cysteine and L-methionine lies in that L-cysteine has a SH group which is useful in helping metal sulfide bioleaching by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans.