Abstract
Universal reserves of high-grade ores are diminishing at an alarming rate due to the rapid increase in the demand for metals. Biomining is the extraction of specific metals from their ores through biological means, usually microorganism. Biomining is done in two steps often called bioleaching and biooxidation. Bioleaching commonly refers to biomining technology applied to base metals; whereas, biooxidation is normally applied to sulfidic-refractory gold ores and concentrates. Even though it’s a new technique used by the mining enterprise to extract minerals equivalent to copper, uranium, and gold from their ores, however, nowadays, biomining occupies an increasingly primary place among the available mining applied sciences. The biomining methods are affordable, nontoxic, effective, and likewise environment pleasant. Utilizing biotechnology, efficiency of biomining can also be extended with the aid of genetically modified microorganisms.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Asghari I, Mousavi SM, Amiri F, Tavassoli S (2013) Bioleaching of spent refinery catalysts: a review. J Ind Eng Chem 19:1069–1081
Blake RC, Shute EA, Greenwood MM, Spencer GH, Ingledew WJ (1993) Thiobacillus ferrooxidans, Leptospirillum ferrooxidans and Metallosphaera sedula application in metal leaching: a review. FEMS Microbiol Rev 11(1–3):9–18
Brierley CL (2008) How will biomining be applied in future? Trans Nonferrous Met Soc China 18:1302–1310
Buchanan RE, Gibbons RE (1974) Bergey’s manual of determinative bacteriology. Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore
Characklis WG, Mcfeters GA, Marshall KC (1990) Physiological ecology in biofilm systems. In: Characklis WG, Marshall KC (eds) Biofilms. Wiley, New York, pp 341–394
Das T, Ayyappan S, Chaudhury GR (1999) Factors affecting bioleaching kinetics of sulfide ores using acidophilic micro-organisms. Biometals 12:1–10
Donlan RM (2001) Biofilm formation: a clinically relevant microbiological process. Clin Infect Dis 33:1387–1392
Dunne WM Jr (2002) Bacterial adhesion: seen any good biofilms lately? Clin Microbiol Rev 15:155–166
Ewart DK, Hughes MN (1991) The extraction of metals from ores using bacteria. Adv Inorg Chem 36:103–135
Flemming HC, Wingender J (2010) Review: the biofilm matrix. Nat Rev Microbiol 8(9):623–633
Fletcher M, Loeb GI (1979) Influence of substratum characteristics on the attachment of a marine pseudomonad to solid surfaces. Appl Environ Microbiol 37:67–72
Haque N, Nargate T (2013) The greenhouse gas footprint of in-situ leaching of uranium, gold and copper in Australia. J Clean Prod 84:382–390
Hoque ME, Philip OJ (2011) Biotechnological recovery of heavy metals from secondary sources—an overview. Mater Sci Eng 31:57–66
Kang JG, Senanayake G, Sohn J, Shin SM (2010) Recovery of cobalt sulfate from spent lithium ion batteries by reductive leaching and solvent extraction with Cyanex 272. Hydrometallurgy 100:168–171
Mishra D, Kim DJ, Ralph DE, Ahn JG, Rhee YH (2008) Bioleaching of spent hydroprocessing catalyst using acidophilic bacteria and its kinetics aspect. J Hazard Mater 15:1082–1091
Mousavi SM, Yaghmaei S, Vossoughi M, Jafari A, Roostaazad R, Turunen I (2007) Bacterial leaching of low-grade Zns concentrate using indigenous mesophilic and thermophilic strains. Hydrometallurgy 85:59–65
Pringle JH, Fletcher M (1983) Influence of substratum wettability on attachment of freshwater bacteria to solid surfaces. Appl Environ Microbiol 45:811–817
Quirynen M, Brecx M, Van Steenberghe D (2000) Biofilms in the oral cavity: impact of surface characteristics. In: Evans LV (ed) Biofilms: recent advances in their study and control. Harwood Academic Publishers, Amsterdam, pp 167–187
Rupp ME, Fey PD, Heilmann C, Gotz F (2001) Characterization of the importance of Staphylococcus epidermidis autolysin and polysaccharide intercellular adhesion in the pathogenesis of intravascular catheter-associated infection in a rat model. J Infect Dis 183:1038–1042
Schippers A, Sand W (1999) Bacterial leaching of metal sulfides proceeds by two indirect mechanisms via thiosulfate or via polysulfides and sulfur. Appl Environ Microbiol 65:319–321
Siddiqui MD, Kumar H, KesariKavindra A, Arif JM (2009) Biomining – a useful approach toward metal extraction. American-Eurasian J Agron 2(2):84–88
Suggested Further Readings
Abhilash PBD, Nataranjan KA (2015) Microbiology for minerals, metals, materials and the environment. CRC Press Taylor and Francis Group, Boca Raton
Donadi ER, Wolfgang S (2010) Microbial processing of metal sulfides. Springer, Berlin
Ehrlich Henry L, Newman Dianne K (2009) Geomicrobiology. CRC Press Tyler and Francis Group, Boca Raton
Rawlings DE (1997) Biomining: theory, microbes and industrial process. Springer, Berlin
Rawlings DE, Johnson DB (2007) Biomining. Springer, Berlin
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mahajan, S., Gupta, A., Sharma, R. (2017). Bioleaching and Biomining. In: Singh, R. (eds) Principles and Applications of Environmental Biotechnology for a Sustainable Future. Applied Environmental Science and Engineering for a Sustainable Future. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1866-4_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1866-4_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-1865-7
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-1866-4
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)