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Different strains of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans and Thiobacillus thiooxidans were used to catalyze the oxidative dissolution of iron pyrite, FeS(2), in nine different coal samples. Kinetic variables and parametric factors that were determined to have a pronounced effect on the rate and extent of oxidative dissolution at a fixed Po(2) were: the bacterial strain, the nitrogen/phosphorus molar ratio, the partial pressure of CO(2), the coal source, and the total reactive surface area of FeS(2). The overall rate of leaching, which exhibited a first-order dependence on the total surface area of FeS(2), was analyzed mathematically in terms of the sum of a biochemical rate, nu(1), and a chemical rate, nu(2). Results of this study show that bacterial desulfurization (90 to 98%) of coal samples which are relatively high in pyritic sulfur can be achieved within a time-frame of 8 to 12 days when pulp densities are