A Reactor System for Mineral Leaching Investigations

An early step in the assessment of the amenability of a mineral-bearing material to microbially-catalysed degradation or modification is the determination of its behaviour under optimised conditions. The results can give some idea of “ceiling” performance and indicate whether it is likely to be profitable to proceed with longer-term testwork in columns or other devices in which the constraints of real field situations can be more accurately simulated. This first objective can be secured by the use of the time-tried, accelerated shake-flask technique, which has the advantage of relative cheapness and simplicity of equipment and of the simultaneous handling of a larger number of samples. It has the disadvantages of rather large sampling errors, lack of precision in the range of operating conditions easily attainable, and is increasingly costly in terms of manpower.