ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbiological Chemistry and Geomicrobiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1646341
This article is part of the Research TopicApplication of Extremophilic Microorganisms in BiohydrometallurgyView all 3 articles
Bioleaching and chemical leaching of magnesium from serpentinites (Zlatibor Mt. ophiolite massif, Serbia) with potential application in mineral carbonation process for CO2 sequestration
Provisionally accepted
Axel Schippers1*
Srdjan Stanković2
Nebojša Atanacković3
Jana Štrbački3Sabina Kovač3Kristina Šarić3Đurica Nikšić3- 1Resource Geochemistry, Federal Institute For Geosciences and Natural Resources, Hanover, Germany
- 2Univerzitet u Beogradu Bioloski Fakultet, Belgrade, Serbia
- 3Univerzitet u Beogradu Rudarsko-Geoloski Fakultet, Belgrade, Serbia
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Magnesium (Mg) extraction via leaching of serpentinite rocks from of the ultramafic massif of Zlatibor Mountain, Serbia, could be applied in mineral carbonation processes for permanent CO2 sequestration. Four different Mg leaching approaches were experimentally tested: (1) sulfuric acid leaching in chemical reactors, (2) bioleaching with the sulfur-oxidizing bacteria Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans in bioreactors, and (3) simulated heap leaching of coarse rock particles in percolators with both, (3) chemical and (4) biological methods. Experimental results show that bioleaching in bioreactors and leaching with sulfuric acid were most efficient with Mg leaching degrees of 95 ± 3.9% and 92 ± 2.8%, respectively. Bioleaching and leaching with sulfuric acid in percolators was less efficient, with Mg extractions of 16 ± 1.4% and 73 ± 2.9%, respectively. This study proposes new pathways for the development of cost-effective, scalable solutions for mitigating climate change using abundant ultramafic rock resources.
Keywords: Serpentinites, Carbon Sequestration, Magnesium extraction, Leaching, bioleaching
Received: 13 Jun 2025; Accepted: 08 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Schippers, Stanković, Atanacković, Štrbački, Kovač, Šarić and Nikšić. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Axel Schippers, Resource Geochemistry, Federal Institute For Geosciences and Natural Resources, Hanover, 30655, Germany
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