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SUMMARY:Acidophilic iron- and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria driven primary min
 eral weathering and secondary mineral formation in Fe ore tailings
DTSTART:20211125T070500Z
DTEND:20211125T070600Z
DTSTAMP:20261017T032800Z
UID:indico-contribution-4222@events.synchrotron.org.au
DESCRIPTION:Speakers: QING YI (The University of Queensland)\, Longbin Hua
 ng (The University of Queensland)\, Songlin Wu (The University of Queensla
 nd)\, Gordon Southam (The University of Queensland)\n\nDirect phytostabili
 sation of Fe ore tailings is typically unfeasible due to its harsh environ
 ment\, which includes strongly alkaline pH conditions\, deficient availabl
 e nutrients and organic matter and poor physical structure\, hindering mic
 robial and plant colonisation. Eco-engineering Fe ore tailings into a soil
 -like substrate (or technosol) is an emerging technology to rehabilitate t
 ailings landscapes sustainably\, involving a suite of abiotic and biotic i
 nputs (organic matter\, functional microorganisms and pioneer plants). How
 ever\, the extreme alkalinity and the lack of secondary Fe-rich minerals a
 re critical barriers to transforming Fe ore tailings into soil. \nUsing a 
 microcosm experiment amendment with elemental sulfur (S0)\, Acidithiobacil
 lus ferrooxidans demonstrated the capacity to generate acid that neutralis
 ed alkaline tailings and accelerated primary mineral weathering\, i.e.\, t
 echnosol formation. [1] The effects of biological S0 oxidation on the weat
 hering of alkaline Fe ore tailings were examined using several high-resolu
 tion micro-spectroscopic techniques\, including synchrotron-based X-ray ab
 sorption fine structure spectroscopy (XAFS) and electron microscopy. It is
  found that: 1) A. ferrooxidans inoculum together with S0 amendment facili
 tated fast neutralisation of the alkaline Fe ore tailings\; 2) A. ferrooxi
 dans activities induced Fe-bearing primary mineral (e.g.\, biotite) weathe
 ring and nano-sized secondary mineral (e.g.\, ferrihydrite and jarosite) f
 ormation\; 3) the association between bacterial cells and tailing minerals
  were facilitated by extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). The behavio
 ur and biogeochemical functionality of A. ferrooxidans in the tailings pro
 vide a fundamental basis for developing bacterial based technologies towar
 ds eco-engineering tailings into a soil-like substrate for sustainable min
 e site rehabilitation.\n\nhttps://events.synchrotron.org.au/event/146/cont
 ributions/4222/
LOCATION:Online
RELATED-TO:indico-event-146@events.synchrotron.org.au
URL:https://events.synchrotron.org.au/event/146/contributions/4222/
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