Evaluation of the Optimum Conditions for Biotechnological Magnesite Enrichment

Magnesite formulated as MgCO3 is the primary source for magnesium and magnesium derivates. In Turkey, many magnesite deposits cannot be worked out because of high CaCO3 content. Therefore, there are many researchers have applied physical and chemical methods to improve the quality of magnesite. While physical methods are expensive and chemical methods reduce the biological diversity and pollute soil and groundwater, the focus has now been shifted on alternative methods such as biotechnological procedures. For the first time, it was revealed that magnesite enrichment can be carried out biotechnologically by using a nonpathogenic lactic acid bacteria called as Lactococcus sp.(LC) strain. However, the optimum conditions for LC dissolving CaCO3 in magnesite were not determined before. In this research, the optimum conditions for biotechnological magnesite enrichment by LC have been determined with classical methods. To perform optimization experiments, a set of temperature (10-40°C), pH (5-9), particle size (200 mesh-5 mm), solid amount (2-10%), bacterial concentration (1-5%) (~108 cfu/mL) have been tested.

Keywords: Biotechnological enrichment, Magnesite, Optimization, Lactococcus sp.