Nickel recovery from chromite overburden of Sukinda using fungal strains

Abstract

The primary objective of this study is to develop a feasible and cost-effective technique for microbial recovery of nickel from chromite overburden of Sukinda, Orissa. In this study, the feasibility of recovery of nickel from a low-grade chromite overburden was attempted by employing three fungal strains Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus and Penicillium species. Comparison of leaching studies using ore (unroasted) and roasted ore was carried out. Also in-situ and culture filtrate leaching experiments were compared. The adapted fungal strains showed better leaching results as compared to the unadapted strains. The in situ nickel leaching ability of a laboratory stock culture of fungus Aspergillus niger show maximum leaching of 34% nickel with roasted material at 2% pulp density, 30 o C and 150rpm after 28 days incubation, while 32% nickel was solubilised by