Microbial communities and inactivation of acidophilic iron oxidizing microorganisms in a pilot in situ copper leaching rock reactor at 1 km depth. Biomore_Pilot

A ferric iron generating bioreactor was used to regenerate ferric iron lixiviant for leaching of copper in Kupferschieffer in the Rudna Mine, Poland, in an in situ rock reactor constructed at 1 km depth. During the construction and preparation of the leaching operations as well as during and post operation the physicochemical parameters and microbial content of the rock reactor fluids were monitored over time. The microbial community was characterised by amplicon sequencing and qPCR as well as by cultivation based techniques. The goal of the project was to investigate whether the intrinsic microbial communities had iron oxidizing capability and to confirm that iron oxidation activity stopped after operations.