The technology involving the bacteria which can assist in the conversion of the sulphides to sulphates and in the liberation of metals and generation of heat is called as bioleaching. In an effort to develop alternate techniques to recover metals from waste electrical and electronic equipment weee, this research evaluated the bioleaching efficiency of gold au, copper cu and nickel ni by two strains of aspergillus niger in the presence of goldplated finger integrated circuits found in computer motherboards gficms and cellular phone printed circuit boards. Universal reserves of highgrade ores are diminishing at an alarming rate due to the rapid increase in the demand for metals. Biohydrometallurgical processes have been applied for the extraction of copper, gold, uranium, cobalt, zinc, nickel, gallium, molybdenum. Biomining article about biomining by the free dictionary. School of mining engineering, college of engineering, university of tehran, tehran. Pdf version biomining is mineral processing with microbes. This is much cleaner than the traditional heap leaching using cyanide. Biomining is the extraction of specific metals from their ores through biological means, usually microorganism.
In an insightful article on the topic, national geographic notes that another process, heap bioleaching, relies on the same bacteria. Department of mining, shahrood branch, islamic azad university, shahrood, iran 2. Valuable metals are commonly bound up in solid minerals. Biomining is done in two steps often called bioleaching and biooxidation. The future of bioleaching isolate new bacterial strains from extreme environments, such as minedrainage sites, hot springs, and waste sites, and use these to seed bioleaching processes. Bioleaching is one of several applications within biohydrometallurgy and several methods are used to recover copper, zinc, lead, arsenic, antimony, nickel, molybdenum, gold, silver, and cobalt. Jan 09, 2012 in relation to bacterial leaching and biomining, microorganisms are using and releasing minerals in the earths crust since ancient times.
Today, we have a completely different scenario compared with the year 2000, when the first gapped genome sequence of acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans formerly thiobacillus ferrooxidans and the archetype of a bioleaching microorganism was published selkov et al. Bioleaching technology for the extraction of base metals from sulfide ores and. Bioleaching has finally moved into the treatment of nickel sulphide ore and concentrates, with commercial heap and tank systems now in commercial operation in finland, and a commercial tank system planned for western australia. Biomining is the use of microorganisms in the recovery of metals from ores. However, bioleaching bacteria have some drawbacks such as long growth cycle and. New methods of copper extraction exploit waste ores and low grade ores. Bioleaching of copper from waste printed circuit boards by bacteriafree cultural supernatant of ironsulfuroxidizing bacteria. Biomining method is cheap, reliable, efficient and also environment friendly method of mineral recovery. Bioloeaching and bioheap are both explained as are results from trials to date, as well as the economics of the process. It finds application in the extraction of metals from their ores.
Bioleaching application of biotechnology in mining industry. Bioheap a bioleaching process for nickel extraction. Jan 05, 2012 bioleaching uses bacterial microorganisms to extract precious metals, such as gold, from ore in which it is embedded. Bioleaching microbial leaching, being an economical and environmental friendly process, is investigated extensively for metal extraction from secondary solid wastes, viz. Due to an increase in consumerism, heightened dependence on technology, and an overall world population growth, more and more minerals and metals need to be extracted from the earths surface as shown in figure 1. For the last 10 centuries, microorganisms have assisted in the recovery of copper dissolved in drainage from water. In other words, bioleaching is the commercialization of the ability of certain bacteria and archaea, found in nature, to catalyze the oxidation of sulfide minerals.
What advantages does biomining have over other metal extraction methods. Biomining is also known as microbial leaching or as biooxidation. Biomining is a technique of extracting metals from ores and other solid materials typically using prokaryotes or fungi. Bioleaching is a simple and effective technology for metal extraction from lowgrade ores and mineral concentrates. Metal recovery from sulfide minerals is based on the activity of chemolithotrophic bacteria, mainly thiobacillus ferrooxidans and t. Introduction bioleaching is the simple and effective technology for metal extraction from low grade ores and mineral concentrate by the use of micro organisms. These organisms secrete different organic compounds that chelate metals from the environment and bring it back to the cell where they are typically used to coordinate electrons. Oct 15, 2016 universal reserves of highgrade ores are diminishing at an alarming rate due to the rapid increase in the demand for metals.
View bioleaching bacterial leaching research papers on academia. Biomining is done in two steps known as bioleaching and biooxidation. Microbes play vital role in bioleaching procedures in commercial mining. Bioleaching is the extraction of a metal from sulfide ores or concentrates using materials found native to the environment. Energy efficient, using almost half as much energy as traditional extraction. Bioleaching articles bioremediation is a waste management technique that involves the use of organisms to remove or neutralize pollutants from a contaminated site. In industrial bioleaching biomining three technical processes are differentiated. Bioleaching is a simple and effective technology for metal extraction from lowgrade ores.
Phytomining and bioleaching lesson plan template and teaching resources. Metal ores are a finite resource which are in limited supply. Bioleaching and phytomining extraction of copper by katie. Potential impact of microbial consortia in biomining and bioleaching. Mining operations have long benefited from the activities of such naturally occurring microorganisms, especially the ability of some bacteria to leach the metals from insoluble ores. Pictures of each step in the process, a description to link to and differentiated questions. In microbial leaching or bioleaching metals can be extracted from large quantities of low grade ores this process has been used for centuries to recover copper form the drainage water of mines the role of microbes in the bioleaching came into notice some 40 years ago. Bioleaching of metal sulfides is caused by diverse groups of bacteria. Aug 26, 2002 bioheap is a commercial nickel extration process developed by titan resources. Some microbes can oxidize those metals, allowing them to dissolve in. Extraction of metals card sort phytomining and bioleaching. Optimization of parameters affecting recovery of copper from sarcheshmeh lowgrade sulfide ore using bioleaching m.
New resources for metals must be developed with the aid of novel technologies. As an alternative to smelting or roasting, miners use bioleaching when there are lower concentrations of metal in ore and they need an efficient, environmentally responsible method. Bioleaching of gold, copper and nickel from waste cellular. Although it is a new technique used by the mining industry to extract minerals such as copper, uranium and gold from their ores but nowadays biomining occupies an increasingly important place among the available mining technologies. Mesophiles moderately thermophilic bacteria extremophiles. Bioleaching technology in minerals processing john neale mintek, biotechnology division private bag x3015, randburg, 2125, south africa bioleaching is a process that employs microorganisms to dissolve leach sulphide minerals. Biomining a useful approach toward metal extraction. The dissolution biochemistry signifies two types of. Bioleaching of arsenicrich gold concentrates by bacterial flora. The bacteria feed on nutrients in the minerals, causing the metal to separate from its ore. Biomining is applied bioleaching and biooxidation with the aim of extracting metals from ore in contrast to acid mine drainage which is uncontrolled and unintentional questions. Get the students to arrange the cards onto a3 paper and annotatebuild a flow ch.
A new laurentian university industrial research chair position in biomining, bioremediation and science communication has the potential to kickstart a new industry in sudbury that could create hundreds or even thousands of jobs, said the director of the vale living with lakes centre. Biomining biotechnologies for extracting and recovering. Bioleaching articles omics international journal of. Biomining techniques may also be used to clean up sites that have been polluted with metals. Potential of biotechnology for metals extraction in zimbabwe saimm. Cog3 partner bangor university achieve over 90% cobalt yield from. During heap bioleaching, copper sulfide ore is crushed and. Cards for pupils to create a flowchart on how pure copper is obtained from lowgrades ores via bioleaching and phytomining. Bioleaching, or microbial ore leaching, is a process used to extract metals from their ores using bacterial microorganisms. Biomining environment friendly mining biotech articles. Using biotechnology efficiency of biomining can be increased by using genetically modified microorganisms. During bioleaching, metals such as copper, nickel or zinc are oxidized through microbial action from the waterinsoluble sulfide to the soluble sulfate forms. Bioleaching bacterial leaching research papers academia. Phytomining and bioleaching gcse triple award revision.
Biomining is the process of using microorganisms microbes to extract metals of economic interest from rock ores or mine waste. Although gold is inert to microbial action, microbes can also be used in gold recovery from certain types of ores because as they oxidize the ore, they open up. Microbial leaching bioleaching, biomining environmental. Recent development has shown commercial application of the process and, concurrently, details pertaining to the key microorganisms involved in these processes have been described. Although a number of unresolved challenges in conventional biomining remain, such as bioleaching chalcopyrite and using brackish and saline water for bioprocessing minerals, recent innovations, such as the reductive bioprocessing of oxidized metal deposits, suggest that new opportunities for developing biotechnologies in the mining and. Bio leaching group members mehwish nazeer, kanza saleem, nazish mehmood m. Biomining and bioleaching a free powerpoint ppt presentation displayed as a flash slide show on id. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Bioleaching osprey aviation elite units pdf technology in minerals processing. Today the recovery of copper from sulfide ores is the most important industrial application, and a significant proportion of the world copper production originates from heap or dump. Improve isolates by conventional mutation and selection or by genetic engineering. Biomining is the extraction of specific metals from their ores through biological means usually bacteria. Aug 18, 2015 current and future impacts of genomics on bioleaching. Bioleaching is the extraction of metals from their ores through the use of living organisms.
Oct 19, 20 cards for pupils to create a flowchart on how pure copper is obtained from lowgrades ores via bioleaching and phytomining. The bioleaching also called biohydroleaching, have played greater role to recover of valuable metals from various minerals of oxides and sulphide ores. Compared to copper leaching, the bioleaching of other metals such as nickel, cobalt, and zinc so. Optimization of parameters affecting recovery of copper from. Heap or dump bioleaching, tank bioleaching, in situ or in place bioleaching. The bacterial cells are used to detoxifyreplace waste cyanide. Microbial leaching bioleaching, biomining microbial leaching is the process by which metals are dissolved from ore bearing rocks using microorganisms.
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