Bacteria for gold
Bacteria help to find a gold ore. Pilot survey of 11 sections of the soil profile in the area of the gold mines in China, indicates that the number of Bacillus cereus (Bacillus cereus) In the soil, rich in gold dust, and greatly increased their increase for the size of gold-bearing strata.
Studies have shown that a relatively high number of Bacillus cereus was related to the content of gold in the soil, which indicated the possibility of direct use of these bacteria as an indicator of gold mineralization in the areas of land. This system biogeologorazvedki can help geologists identify gold-bearing deposits not through expensive geological surveys for the presence of zolotosoprovozhdayuschih layers of minerals and ores, and by the abundance of cheap analyzes Bacillus cereus soil. This significantly reduces the cost of exploration work to find gold and increases the efficiency of the search by reducing the time required to search, says Dr.
Hongmei Wang of the Ohio State University, one of the participants in this study, which was presented at the 102nd meeting of the American Society of Microbiology.
With the support of the Ministry of Land and Resource and Ministry of Education of China, Dr. Wang and his staff spent biogeologorazvedkoy in the north-western region of China - Sichuan, which is very famous for its gold reserves.
Typically gold in soluble form is toxic to microorganisms as well as for higher animal forms. However, Bacillus cereus can withstand harsh environmental conditions (eg, heat, toxic chemicals, ultraviolet radiation and desiccation) is better than ordinary bacteria.
In soils containing gold, from micro-organisms that have the best chance of survival and reproduction, are just Bacillus cereus. In this study, a high number of Bacillus cereus has been found in areas containing gold ores, the gold reserves volume there were two or three times higher than the explored area in another area. The best results are obtained by intelligence, a combined test-tube assay for the presence Bacillus cereus with the methods of exploration.
Experiments on interaction Bacillus cereus with gold ions showed that low concentrations of gold does not affect sporulation Bacillus cereus. However, when the concentration of the gold reserves is enormous, sporulation Bacillus cereus is lower. In such cases you need to handle common data and based on analyzes from the neighboring areas.
This new and promising method biogeologorazvedki help mining companies to search for major gold deposits at relatively low cost and with greater efficiency. And, due to the ever increasing demand for gold in the world, and an increase in its use in electronics, will need to increase its production and to look for new gold deposits.
Contact information:
Jim Plum, jsliwa@asmusa.org, 202-942-9297, American Society for Microbiology
