Modelling of microbial metabolism stoichiometry: Application in bioleaching processes

The present paper reviews an approach to theoretical evaluation of stoichiometric reactions that support microbial growth as applied to environmental problems, with special emphasis on bioleaching of sulfide minerals. Our approach is based on the bioenergetic concepts developed by McCarty, according to which microbial redox reactions can be formulated by combining three half-reactions: the electron donor reaction, the electron acceptor reaction and the biomass synthesis reaction. In this study only chemolithotrophic autotrophs are considered, as this is the case of interest in bioleaching applications.