In an effort to find new sources of reagents for flotation in mineral processing, local microorganisms originating from the surrounding mining areas and surrounding areas were tested to be alternative bioreagents. The bacterium Alicyclobacillus sp. (a new local bacterial strain) was chosen because of its easy growth and no biological risk, and its capability to oxidize iron and sulfur and produce biosurfactants. Batch experiments were conducted to study the effect of bacterial adaptation to minerals on bioflotation performances evaluated by the contact angle measurement of galena, sphalerite, and silica at various pHs. Furthermore, laboratory-scale experiments with the Denver flotation cells were conducted to investigate the effect of pH, bioreagent concentration and conditioning time on mineral grade and recovery. The results showed that the bacterium had a high recovery of Pb (90.21%) and Zn (80.83%) with grades of 4.82% and 8.91%, respectively. Although these results were lower than the collectors adopted by the industry (based on our flotation performance using conventional flotation reagents), the bacterium had the potential to be used in the future for mineral flotation as an alternative eco-friendly reagent, presenting as biodegradable, ecologically sustainable reagents.

为了寻找矿物加工中浮选试剂的新来源，对来自周边矿区和周边地区的当地微生物进行了测试，以作为替代生物试剂。细菌脂环sp. （一种新的本地细菌菌株）之所以被选中，是因为它容易生长，没有生物风险，并且能够氧化铁和硫并产生生物表面活性剂。进行批量实验以研究细菌对矿物的适应对生物浮选性能的影响，通过方铅矿、闪锌矿和二氧化硅在不同 pH 值下的接触角测量进行评估。此外，还使用丹佛浮选池进行了实验室规模的实验，以研究 pH 值、生物试剂浓度和调节时间对矿物品位和回收率的影响。结果表明，该细菌对Pb（90.21%）和Zn（80.83%）的回收率分别为4.82%和8.91%。