Kinetic modeling of pyrrothite ore leaching by ferric iron and related statistical analysis

A study on the pyrrhotite chemical leaching by ferric iron is reported in t his work. The main aim of the work was the determination of stoichiometry a nd kinetics of the indirect mechanism during bioleaching of pyrrhotite. Exp erimental results have shown that the sulfur moiety of pyrrhotite is oxidiz ed incompletely by ferric iron to elemental sulfur. A mathematical model ab le to predict the process kinetics has been developed from the unreacted co re model, considering a dependence of the activation energy on the pyrrhoti te conversion (Brittan, 1975).