中国有色金属学报(英文版)
Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China
| Vol. 14 No. 4 August 2004 |
（1. School of Resource Processing and Bioengineering,
Central South University, Changsha 410083, China;
2. School of Bio-Science and Technology, Central South University, Changsha 410078, China）
Abstract:By adding suitable amount of amino acid L-cysteine to acidic solution in contact with sphalerite or pyrite, the activity of Thiobacillus Ferrooxidansis largely enhanced. But, at comparable higher concentration of L-cysteine, a deleterious effect on bacterial activity was found, which can be due to the toxic effect of this amino acid at higher concentrations to microbes. The addition of L-methionine would be great inhibition to the bioleaching no matter how much it was
applied, which indicates that L-methionine is harmful for bioleaching. The quite different effect on bioleaching between Lcysteine and L-methionine lies in that L-cysteine has a SH group which is useful in helping metal sulfide bioleaching by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans.
Key words: Thiobacillus ferrooxidans; aminoacids; bioleaching; L-cysteine; L-methionine
