CMMMech
CMMMech > Secondary resource > Copper flotation tailings

Copper flotation tailings secondary resource

Residual solids from flotation concentration of copper-bearing ores, distinct from unprocessed ore, copper concentrate, smelter slag and heap-leach residues. The curated feed is the inactive Las Luces T1 tailings wall near Taltal, Chile. The operator describes sulfide-ore flotation and tailings thickening at the Las Luces concentrator; the experiment characterizes a heterogeneous, silicate-rich sample containing residual copper and other elements. Its composition does not define all copper flotation tailings. No constituent's criticality designation is inherited.

Microbial & Biochemical Mechanisms (1)

Ureolytic bacterial treatment associated with tailings biocementation

biomineralization Microbial

Tailings-derived isolates reported as Priestia megaterium T130-1, Paenibacillus sp. T130-13 and Staphylococcus sp. T130-14 showed urease activity and formed laboratory biocement cores with added calcium and urea. Treated cores resisted wind erosion better than uninoculated controls. Calcite-associated cementation and biofilm adhesion are supported interpretations; their separate causal contributions were not isolated.

Experimental Context & Analytical Limits:
T1 material was sieved below 2 mm and heated at 60 degrees C for 72 h to reduce indigenous microorganisms, not demonstrated sterile. Cores contained 150 g tailings and 50 mL bacterial suspension in seawater Luria broth. Section 4.4 identifies 1 M calcium chloride to 0.8 M urea as the shape-retaining formulation; three other formulations failed to retain shape. Methods specify 30 degrees C for 20 days, whereas the CFU Figure 8 caption states 30 days. Section 2.6 prints 40% w/v urea for preculture; this unresolved formulation is not silently corrected. Wind tests used 26 km/h for 45 minutes. Replicate counts, inoculum density and full matching of control additions are unclear. Organism names retain the paper's isolate-level assignments without treating closest BLAST matches as strain accessions. Laboratory stabilization does not establish metal recovery or field deployment.
Curated Evidence Points:
Sections 3.3-3.4, Table 5 and Figures 2-7 show urease activity, calcite-bearing mixed solids, particle-associated biofilms and lower wind erosion in inoculated cores. Figure 4B supports increased compression resistance for T130-1 and T130-13; Section 4.4 reports the T130-14 compression difference as not statistically significant. Sporosarcina pasteurii and Bacillus subtilis LN8B are reference inocula, not additional indigenous isolates.
Figure 8 and Section 3.4 report ureolytic colonies in the negative control, so this is not a sterile-versus-live comparison. Table 3 BMA and Table 5 XRD give different initial calcite estimates; Section 3.3 cautions that substantial amorphous material limits phase quantification. Microscopy elemental maps do not identify pure carbonate, and new XRD phase assignments do not establish microbial synthesis of each named silicate. Neither a purified mineral product nor metal immobilization mass balance was measured.

Sources & References

  1. maureira2024: Maureira et al. (2024). MICP mediated by indigenous bacteria isolated from tailings for biocementation for reduction of wind erosion. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 12:1393334. DOI 10.3389/fbioe.2024.1393334; Sections 2.1-2.9, 3.3-3.4 and 4.4, Tables 2-5 and Figures 2-8.
    https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2024.1393334 (accessed 2026-10-11)
  2. cenizas_las_luces: Grupo Minero Las Cenizas. Faena Taltal, Planta Concentradora Las Luces section; operator description of sulfide-ore flotation, seawater use and tailings thickening, distinct from its Planta de Oxidos section. Undated page inspected 2026-10-11.
    https://www.cenizas.cl/faenas_oficinas/faena-taltal/ (accessed 2026-10-11)

Curation History

Timestamp Curator Action Summary
2026-10-11T11:42:25.168873+00:00 Codex (GPT-6; Codex) CREATE Created a process-specific secondary-resource record with source-scoped biocementation and explicit control, phase, timing and deployment limitations.

Record source: data/records/copper-flotation-tailings.yaml