Statistical analysis of bioleaching copper, cobalt and nickel from polymetalic concentrate originating from Kamoya deposit in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The effects of five parameters, temperature, pH, leaching duration, stirring speed and pulp density on the bioleaching of copper, cobalt and nickel from a polymetallic flotation concentrate were investigated. The leaching was carried out according to the L25 (55) orthogonal design. The optimal values of the parameters were determined using a Taguchi method through signal-to-noise analysis. ANOVA was applied to verify the individual contribution of each parameter and their degree of significance. It was found out that pulp density was the most influential factor on the bioleaching yield of the three metals altogether, followed by pH and temperature. For the copper bioleach, the following optimal parameters were determined: temperature – 37.5 °C, pH 1.6, leaching duration – 20 days, stirring speed – 350 rpm and pulp density – 7.5%. Verification experiments conducted according to these optimal parameters brought copper yield of 72.6%. For the cobalt bioleach, SEM observations of pure carrolite indicated a progressive bacterial colonization of mineral surface with time.