Johnson reported in 2014 that the abilities of acidophilic chemolithotrophic bacteria and archaea to accelerate the oxidative dissolution of sulfide minerals have been harnessed in the development and application of a biotechnology for extracting metals from sulfidic ores and concentrates. Biomining is currently used primarily to leach copper sulfides and as an oxidative pretreatment for refractory gold ores, though it is also used to recover other base metals, such as cobalt, nickel and zinc.
Recent developments have included using acidophiles to process electronic wastes, to extract metals from oxidizedores, and to selectively recover metals from process waters and waste streams. This review describes the microorganisms and mechanisms involved in commercial biomining operations,
how the technology has developed over the past 50 years, and discusses the challenges and opportunities for mineral biotechnologies in the 21st century.
Johnson concluded that biomining is well established as a niche technology for extracting metals from low-grade and polymetallic base metal ores, and refractory gold ores. As energy and environmental constraints become more demanding, there will be greater need and incentives to reprocess relic mine wastes (which often contain greater concentrations of metals than readily accessible ore bodies) and to recover and recycle metals from electronic and other metallic wastes and metal-laden waste waters, while in situ biomining could allow deeply buried ore bodies to be economically exploited.
Although a number of unresolved challenges in conventional biomining remain, such as bioleaching chalcopyrite and using brackish and saline water for bio-processing minerals, recent innovations, such as the reductive bio-processing of oxidized metal deposits, suggest that new opportunities for developing biotechnologies in the mining and mineral sectors will emerge in the near future.
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