Biomining Technologies

Microorganisms can be put to work extracting valuable metals from rock, mine residues and discarded electronics, and this volume surveys how that is done on an industrial scale. It covers established and emerging biomining methods that recover metals of economic value from mineral ores, mining wastes and electronic waste.

Several chapters address the engineering design and operation of biomining systems. Industrial case studies from China, Chile, Peru, Russia and Kazakhstan, and Finland make the book's practical focus concrete.

The scientific groundwork is laid out as well. Readers are introduced to the biology, variety and ecology of the microbes that drive these processes, along with the molecular and cultivation methods used to study and manage them in industry. Particular attention goes to emerging biotechnologies that could reclaim metals from electronic waste, other waste streams and process waters. The closing discussion considers where biomining is heading and how it might support sustainable metal production as global demand for metals grows.

The book is written for an interdisciplinary readership, including plant operators and researchers in geology, chemical engineering, microbiology and molecular biology. Its contributors are all established leaders in their respective fields.