Bioleaching of pyritic coal wastes: bioprospecting and efficiency of selected consortia

Pyrite-bearing coal wastes are responsible of the formation of acid mine drainage (AMD), and their management to mitigate environmental impacts is a challenge to the coal mine industry in Europe and worldwide. The European CEReS project sought to develop a generic co-processing strategy to reuse and recycle coal wastes, based on removal of AMD generating potential through bioleaching. Chemolitoautotrophic iron- and sulfur-oxidizing microbial consortia were enriched from a Polish coal waste at 30 °C and 48 °C, but not 42 °C. Pyrite leaching yield, determined from bioleaching tests in 2-L stirred bioreactors, was best with the 48 °C endogenous consortium (80%), then the 42 °C exogenous BRGM-KCC consortium (71%), and finally the 30 °C endogenous consortium (50%). 16S rRNA gene-targeted metagenomics from five surface locations on the dump waste revealed a microbial community adapted to the site context, composed of iron- and/or sulfur-oxidizing genera thriving in low pH and metal rich environments and involved in AMD generation. All together, the results confirmed the predisposition of the pyritic coal waste to bioleaching and the potential of endogenous microorganisms for efficient bioleaching at 48 °C. The good leaching yields open the perspective to optimize further and scale-up the bioleaching process.