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Acidic microenvironments in waste rock characterized by neutral drainage: Bacteria-mineral interactions at sulfide surfaces

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dc.contributor.authorDockrey, John W.
dc.contributor.authorLindsay, Matthew B. J.
dc.contributor.authorMayer, K. Ulrich
dc.contributor.authorBeckie, Roger D.
dc.contributor.authorNorlund, Kelsey L. I.
dc.contributor.authorWarren, Lesley
dc.contributor.authorSoutham, Gordon
dc.date.accessioned2022-09-27T22:47:09Z
dc.date.available2022-09-27T22:47:09Z
dc.date.issued2014-03-21
dc.description© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).en_US
dc.description.abstractMicrobial populations and microbe-mineral interactions were examined in waste rock characterized by neutral rock drainage (NRD). Samples of three primary sulfide-bearing waste rock types (i.e., marble-hornfels, intrusive, exoskarn) were collected from field-scale experiments at the Antamina Cu–Zn–Mo mine, Peru. Microbial communities within all samples were dominated by neutrophilic thiosulfate oxidizing bacteria. However, acidophilic iron and sulfur oxidizers were present within intrusive waste rock characterized by bulk circumneutral pH drainage. The extensive development of microbially colonized porous Fe(III) (oxy)hydroxide and Fe(III) (oxy)hydroxysulfate precipitates was observed at sulfide-mineral surfaces during examination by field emission-scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (FE-SEM-EDS). Linear combination fitting of bulk extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra for these precipitates indicated they were composed of schwertmannite [Fe8O8(OH)6–4.5(SO4)1–1.75], lepidocrocite [γ-FeO(OH)] and K-jarosite [KFe3(OH)6(SO4)2]. The presence of schwertmannite and K-jarosite is indicative of the development of localized acidic microenvironments at sulfide-mineral surfaces. Extensive bacterial colonization of this porous layer and pitting of underlying sulfide-mineral surfaces suggests that acidic microenvironments can play an important role in sulfide-mineral oxidation under bulk circumneutral pH conditions. These findings have important implications for water quality management in NRD settings.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipFunding was provided by Compañía Minera Antamina S.A., Teck Resource Ltd., and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) through a Collaborative Research and Development (CRD) grant and through the NSERC Discovery program (Southam).en_US
dc.description.versionPeer Revieweden_US
dc.identifier.citationDockrey, J.W., Lindsay, M. B. J., Mayer, K. U., Beckie, R. D., Norlund, K. L. I., Warren, L. A., & Southam, G. (2014). Acidic microenvironments in waste rock characterized by neutral drainage: Bacteria–mineral interactions at sulfide surfaces. Minerals (Basel), 4(1), 170–190. https://doi.org/10.3390/min4010170en_US
dc.identifier.doi10.3390/min4010170
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10388/14238
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherMDPIen_US
dc.subjectmine tailingsen_US
dc.subjectneutral rock drainageen_US
dc.subjectbiooxidationen_US
dc.subjectFe- and S-oxidizing bacteriaen_US
dc.subjectsynchrotronen_US
dc.subjectEXAFSen_US
dc.titleAcidic microenvironments in waste rock characterized by neutral drainage: Bacteria-mineral interactions at sulfide surfacesen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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