METHOD FOR RECOVERING SILVER FROM REFRACTORY MANGANESE ORES

摘要

A method for recovering silver from a refractory manganese dioxide-silver ore. The ore is contacted with an effective amount of a culture of direct manganese-reducing Bacillus polymyxa bacteria. The ore-bacteria mixture is maintained at an approximately neutral pH until a sufficient amount of the manganese dioxide in the ore is reduced from Mn(IV) to Mn(II). The silver present in the ore is then recovered by conventional methods such as cyanide leaching.