Manganese-electrolysed slag treatment: bioleaching of manganese by Fusarium sp.

A fungi strain named Fusarium sp. was isolated from manganese-electrolysed slag by using a gradient dilution spread plate method, identified by 26S RNA sequence analysis and phylogenetic tree analysis, and explored for the bioleaching capacity to manganese (II) from manganese-electrolysed slag in liquid mineral medium under different environmental conditions, including system temperature, incubator rotation speed and initial pH value. DNA sequence and phylogenetic analysis indicated the name of this fungi strain, that is, Fusarium sp., and higher bioleaching efficiencies (71.6%) of manganese by this fungi were observed when the bioleaching was carried out under the optimized conditions as follows: contact time: 72 h; system temperature: 28 degrees C; inoculums concentration: 2% (v/v); incubator rotation speed: 150 rpm; pH 4.0. Because of its low cost, environment friendliness and better efficiency, the bioleaching technique will have a significant impact on manganese-electrolysed slag pollution mitigation.