The effect of Cu2+ ions on bioleaching of marmatite was investigated through shake leaching experiments.The bacteria inoculated are a mixed culture of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans,Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans and Lepthospirillum ferrooxidans.The results show that zinc is selectively leached,and the addition of appropriate content of Cu2+ ions has positive effect on the bioleaching of marmatite.SEM and EDX analyses of the leaching residue reveal that a product layer composed of iron sulfide,elemental sulfur and jarosite forms on the mineral surface.The biooxidation of elemental sulfur is catalyzed by the Cu2+ ions,which eliminate the barrier to bioleaching of marmatite and keep low pH value.With the addition of 0.5 g/L Cu2+ ions,the maximum zinc extraction rate reaches 73% after 23 d at the temperature of 30 ℃ with the pulp density of 10%,while that of iron is only about 10%.