The Conversation January 29, 2018
Biomining takes place within large, closed, stirred-tank reactors (bioreactors). These devices generally contain water, microorganisms (bacteria, archaea, or fungi), ore material, and a source of energy for the microbes. The source of energy required depends on the specific microbe necessary for the job. Biomining uses little energy and produces few microbial by-products such as organic acids and gases. Countries such as Finland, Chile, and Uganda are increasingly turning to biomining. Chile has exhausted much of its copper rich ores and now utilizes biomining. Biomining offers a way to obtain the rare earth elements resources, critical for the future of our technology, in a way that is both environmentally sustainable and economically feasible… read more.
Microorganisms in tanks leach the minerals from any source material. Credit: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory