Biomining

Not to be confused with Bioprospecting.

Biomining refers to any process that uses living organisms to extract metals from ores and other solid materials. Typically these processes involve prokaryotes, however fungi and plants (phytoextraction also known as phytomining) may also be used.[1] Biomining is one of several applications within biohydrometallurgy with applications in ore refinement, precious metal recovery, and bioremediation.[2] The largest application currently being used is the treatment of mining waste containing iron, copper, zinc, and gold allowing for salvation of any discarded minerals. It may also be useful in maximizing the yields of increasingly low grade ore deposits.[3] Biomining has been proposed as a relatively environmentally friendly alternative and/or supplementation to traditional mining.[2] Current methods of biomining are modified leach mining processes.[4] These aptly named bioleaching processes most commonly includes the inoculation of extracted rock with bacteria and acidic solution, with the leachate salvaged and processed for the metals of value.[4] Biomining has many applications outside of metal recovery, most notably is bioremediation which has already been used to clean up coastlines after oil spills.[5] There are also many promising future applications, like space biomining, fungal bioleaching and biomining with hybrid biomaterials.[6][7][8]

  1. ^ V. Sheoran, A. S. Sheoran & Poonam Poonia (October 2009). "Phytomining: A Review". Minerals Engineering. 22 (12): 1007–1019. Bibcode:2009MiEng..22.1007S. doi:10.1016/j.mineng.2009.04.001.
  2. ^ a b Jerez, Carlos A (2017). "Biomining of metals: how to access and exploit natural resource sustainably". Microbial Biotechnology. 10 (5): 1191–1194. doi:10.1111/1751-7915.12792. ISSN 1751-7915. PMC 5609284. PMID 28771998.
  3. ^ Kundu et al. 2014 "Biochemical Engineering Parameters for Hydrometallurgical Processes: Steps towards a Deeper Understanding"
  4. ^ a b Johnson, D Barrie (2014). "Biomining—biotechnologies for extracting and recovering metals from ores and waste materials". Current Opinion in Biotechnology. 30: 24–31. doi:10.1016/j.copbio.2014.04.008. PMID 24794631.
  5. ^ Atlas, Ronald M.; Hazen, Terry C. (2011-08-15). "Oil Biodegradation and Bioremediation: A Tale of the Two Worst Spills in U.S. History". Environmental Science & Technology. 45 (16): 6709–6715. Bibcode:2011EnST...45.6709A. doi:10.1021/es2013227. ISSN 0013-936X. PMC 3155281. PMID 21699212.
  6. ^ Santomartino, Rosa; Zea, Luis; Cockell, Charles S. (2022-01-06). "The smallest space miners: principles of space biomining". Extremophiles. 26 (1): 7. doi:10.1007/s00792-021-01253-w. ISSN 1433-4909. PMC 8739323. PMID 34993644.
  7. ^ Dusengemungu, Leonce; Kasali, George; Gwanama, Cousins; Mubemba, Benjamin (October 2021). "Overview of fungal bioleaching of metals". Environmental Advances. 5: 100083. Bibcode:2021EnvAd...500083D. doi:10.1016/j.envadv.2021.100083.
  8. ^ Cetinel, Sibel; Shen, Wei-Zheng; Aminpour, Maral; Bhomkar, Prasanna; Wang, Feng; Borujeny, Elham Rafie; Sharma, Kumakshi; Nayebi, Niloofar; Montemagno, Carlo (2018-02-20). "Biomining of MoS2 with Peptide-based Smart Biomaterials". Scientific Reports. 8 (1): 3374. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-21692-4. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 5820330. PMID 29463859.