Bioleaching of Rare Earth Elements and Uranium from Sinai Soil , Egypt Using Actinomycetes

Abstract

The use of microorganisms in the recovery of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) and Uranium (U) from low grade ores provides an appropriate eco-friendly alternative to chemical methods used in extraction and/or removal of metals from soils, with a higher efficiency, less destruction to the environment, and lower cost from a commercial view especially given that high-grade mineral resources that can be used in the chemical extraction of metals are being depleted. The feasibility of using actinomycetes to recover REEsand Ufrom a low-grade ore occurring in an Egyptian soil in Wadi Abu Thor, Sinai, Egypt, was investigated. The most effective isolate in REEs-bioleaching was Streptomyces fungicidicus YH04, while the most effective isolate in U-bioleaching was Streptomyces aureofaciens 3001(1). Streptomyces fungicidicus YH04 bioleached 37.13% of the REEs present in the sample, while S. aureofaciens 3001(1) bioleached of 12.56% of the U present in the sample. The isolated strains of actinomycetes can be used to extract REEs and U by better, more economic and less polluting bioleaching processes instead of the chemical processes which are in common use today.

Selective separation of Yttrium and Uranium from Xenotime Concentrate

“…Hydrometallurgically, many trails for rare earth leaching studies have been made by many authors from different ore materials of the area under study using either acidic or salts [7–10] …”

Phenotypic Characterization of some Actinobacteria and Fungi Isolated From Exposed rock surfaces in Southwestern Sinai, Egypt

“…Sinai is a very important and economically-promising region in Egypt due to its unique location, the current developmental projects in it and the various exploitation opportunities it offers. It contains soils and rocks that has been intensively explored and proved to be rich in rare elements, have low organic matter and high heavy metal content (El Galy et al, 2008;Afandy et al, 2010;Hewedy et al, 2013;El-Bialy & Shata, 2018). Its extreme environment is characterized by harsh environmental conditions beyond the optimal range for most microorganisms, which include temperature extremes during the year including frequent summer days, frost days and tropical nights (Abu Bakr et al, 2016;Roushdi et al, 2016).…”

Comparison of Heterotrophic Bioleaching and Ammonium Sulfate Ion Exchange Leaching of Rare Earth Elements from a Madagascan Ion-Adsorption Clay

“…The ability of bioleaching of REE by heterotrophic microorganisms has been tested for the phosphate mineral monazite and waste streams from monazite processing [10][11][12], REE bearing carbonaceous shale [13] and red mud [14,15]. Complexation reactions are expected to influence speciation and mobility of REE and a number of studies have evaluated the REE solution complexation with a variety of organic ligands [16][17][18][19].…”