Bioleaching of manganese from mining waste residues using Acinetobacter sp.

The rapid decrease of natural resources and generation of huge amount of metallic wastes from mining industries has led to the focus of researchers to shift to alternative methods of waste benefaction and resource recycling. This study aims at the development of an eco friendly technique to recover Manganese (Mn) from mining waste residues using Acinetobacter sp. Bioleaching experiments were conducted in shake flasks at initial pH 6.5, 5% w/v inoculums and 2% pulp density at 30 °C with agitation speed 200 RPM and Acinetobacter sp. as inoculum. Mn recovery of 76% was recorded in 20 days. The analysis of the changes in cellular protein expression and conformation was carried out through sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS PAGE) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results reveal that bioleaching can alter protein expression and also result in conformational changes in protein structure. The present study sheds light on the greener alternative to recover and recycle manganese from wastes native bacteria. Exciting prospects for the utilization of mining wastes are in store in the near future; providing an economic and ecologically sound alternative to pyrometallurgical processes.