A study of effect of thiobacillus ferrooxidans and thiobacillus thiooxidans on leaching of U~(4+)

This paper used the low grade uranium ore from a uranium mine in Guangdong Province to study different effects of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans and Thiobacillus thiooxidans on the leaching of U4+ under the same cultivation conditions.The results show that the leaching rate of uranium by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans was about 21.34% higher than that by Thiobacillus thiooxidans and that the Thiobacillus ferrooxidans offered high effective oxidant to the oxidation of UO2,while Thiobacillus thiooxidans significantly lowered the pH value of the whole leaching system and this was very favourable for the complexation and separation of UO2+2.Therefore,Thiobacillus ferrooxidans and Thiobacillus thiooxidans have complementary effects on the leaching of U4+.