Jones et al. (2024): Microbe-mineral interactions within kimberlitic fine residue deposits: impacts on mineral carbonation
Thomas Ray Jones, Jordan Poitras, Alan Levett, Guilherme da Silva, Samadhi Gunathunga, Benjamin Ryan, Andrew Vietti, Andrew Langendam, Gordon Southam IN: Frontiers Climate Change, https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2024.1345085
At laboratory scale it was discovered that using kimberlite as a growth supplement increased biomass production (up to 25-fold) and promoted microbiome diversity, while the inoculation of Fine Residue Deposit (FRD) systems aided in the aggregation, settling, and dewatering of kimberlitic slurries. Field trial studies combining photosynthetic biofilms (cultured in 3 × 1,000 L bioreactors) with FRD material were initiated to better understand microbially enhanced mineral carbonation across different depths, and under field environmental conditions. Over the 15-month experiment the microbial populations shifted with the kimberlitic environmental pressure, with the control and inoculated systems converging.