Fig. 1

Schematic representation of the bioleaching setup and procedure for metal quantification. Bioleaching of EAC-1 A was performed over 2 weeks at room temperature and 150 rpm. Afterward, the leachate was collected and sterilized for sensitive quantification of the metal ions in solution by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The recovery of metals was achieved through chemical precipitation with sodium hydroxide, and the presence of metallic elements in the resulting metal powder oxide was validated using Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The 4 experimental groups were composed of a Bioleaching culture (Penicillium simplicissimum spores inoculated into LN medium supplemented with 30% (w/v) EAC-1 A), chemical leaching group (LN medium supplemented with 30% (w/v) EAC-1 A and citric acid and oxalic acid), negative control (LN medium supplemented with 30% (w/v) EAC-1 A), and fungal cultures non-supplemented with EAC-1 A (Penicillium simplicissimum spores inoculated into LN medium). Where LN represents a medium prepared from a 20% dilution of Potato Dextrose Broth